Why is every road in Virginia other than in the cities maintained by VDOT?

Started by dvferyance, June 17, 2016, 05:37:59 PM

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dvferyance

It blows my mind away how a state has the money to maintain so many roads. Even roads that are as minor as local cities streets in my town. How can this state afford it? I would think it would make far more sense if the secondary roads are turned over to the county. Just like they are with the lettered highways in Wisconsin.


Mapmikey

Virginia's way of doing this dates to 1932 with the Byrd Act.

But turning it over to the counties might not change the outcome much.  Any county can opt out (currently 2 counties do not participate - Henrico and Arlington; Nottoway County opted in in 1933) and all the Independent Cities are out.

But VDOT sends them money based on road classification and lane mileage.  So VDOT would still have to pay for County road maintenance and the counties would then be responsible for actually carrying out the maintenance.  Interstates are exempt - VDOT maintains them regardless.

Some counties have considered dropping out of the Byrd Act because in theory they would receive a little more money, in addition to being able to have more control of the priority of maintenance.

froggie

Keep in mind that this is a state that has about 50% more population than Wisconsin and has a sales tax that goes to VDOT in addition to the gas tax and other revenues.

Adding onto what Mike said, the genesis of it was the Depression...the counties couldn't afford to maintain their roads when the Depression hit, so the Byrd Act was passed and all but the two aforementioned counties had their roads taken over by VDOT's predecessor.

1995hoo

At one point there were four counties not participating, but one of those counties no longer exists (it's now part of the City of Newport News) and the other, as Mike noted, opted into the system in 1933.

This is a serious oversimplification, but a major reason why independent cities are excluded has to do with historical rural bias on the part of Harry Byrd Sr. and his cronies, who relied on rural jurisdictions for a lot of their support.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

cl94

It's really not much different than Pennsylvania. Almost every road outside of a developed area that isn't a dead end or dirt road is maintained by PennDOT. West Virginia maintains virtually everything as well.
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Mapmikey

Virginia counties can and do maintain some roads.  Some to a huge degree like Buchanan County which has a numbered system for its self-maintained roads.

Counties can and do build roads on their own dime (or a developer's dime) and if they are built to VDOT standards can be transferred into VDOT's maintenance.

A large example of this is the Fairfax County Pkwy which was built largely on Fairfax County $ then transferred to VDOT later.  If a county wants to have a maintained or VDOT-funded route have a feature that is not compliant with VDOT standards, they would have to remove the road from the VDOT maintenance or funding list.  A good example of this is VA 244 in Arlington having to be removed from the primary system for the streetcar that was going to be built (since cancelled) down the middle of it.


1995hoo

For the sake of completeness, it may also be worth noting there are lots of "private" roads in Virginia in the sense that while they're open to the public, they're owned and maintained by private entities. The typical example, especially in Northern Virginia but by no means limited to here, is roads owned by homeowners' associations. HOA dues pay for the maintenance, to include repaving, sealcoating, plowing, etc. I live on such a street in Kingstowne and it sometimes leads to the weird situation during the winter where our street is nicely plowed by the HOA plow but you can't go far because the VDOT System street to which ours connects has not yet seen a plow (the HOA plow is not permitted to clear VDOT roads for liability reasons). It also leads to the somewhat more annoying situation of our street being in excellent condition and the VDOT System street having a few washboard-like sections where they didn't do a very good job of repairing potholes.

As Mike notes, it's pretty common for VDOT System roads to have been built by developers as part of the "proffers" required by the county as conditions to building something, especially a neighborhood.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

NJRoadfan

NC and I think Delaware uses a similar system as well. I always wondered how these states had enough plows to take care of snowfall in the winter (in areas where it snows anyway). Its also weird to see state maintained dirt and gravel roads. Meanwhile in states where this isn't the case, private roads tend to be rare.

In NJ, some municipal roads might as well be "state maintained", at least indirectly. Some municipalities only repave roads when they get a grant from NJDOT to pay for it (usually the smaller boros). Some even use the state's salt sheds in the winter instead of running their own (the plows are usually from the town DPW or privately contracted).

1995hoo

The "private roads" thing surprises a lot of people. I recall there was a big stink out near Fairfax City when the person who, at the time, owned the section of Nutley Street between US-50 and US-29 constructed some big speed bumps. People went ballistic complaining to the Commonwealth and to Fairfax County and were shocked when they learned the road was privately-owned. I don't recall the details of how it was eventually resolved other than that the owner removed the speed bumps in return for some kind of government concession (I think VDOT took over maintenance).

I found an excerpt from a news article online, but I don't have access to the whole thing because I don't want to pay: https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1314617.html
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

NJRoadfan

NCDOT very clearly signs private roads on street signs. One place where jurisdictional notation is signed in a way overboard fashion is Morrisville, NC. Every sign blade has markings noting if a road is private, town, or state maintained!

https://goo.gl/maps/7aBH5RXixwn

GaryV

For other states where counties - and under them cities, towns, villages and townships - maintain the roads, where do the localities get their money?

As far as I can tell, for the most part in Michigan, counties get road money passed down from the state, primarily coming from gas taxes and registration fees.  Cities may get some too, I'm not sure of that.  Many cities have had to pass property tax proposals for road funds, and many local streets are paid for by special assessments on the adjacent properties.

It sounds like VA simply kept the whole pot and divvies it out by paying for roads, not by grants to local governments.

NJRoadfan

In NJ, funding comes from the following:

Municipal: Primary funding for roads comes from the "Municipal Government" section of one's property tax bill. Additional funding comes from NJDOT local grants if the municipality applies and qualifies. Many smaller towns will align their repaving and improvements with NJDOT grants to reduce the tax impact to residents. These are the most common class of road in NJ. Since there are no unincorporated areas in NJ, any road that isn't county or state maintained falls on the municipality to maintain.

County: Primary funding for county roads comes from the "County Government" section of one's property tax bill. Additional funding comes from NJDOT local grants if the municipality applies and qualifies. Federal funding may be available if the roadways are in NHS. Note that the state secondary route system is almost entirely maintained.

State: Primary funding for state roads (primary numbered routes, US routes, Interstates) comes from the state gas tax (and nearly broke Transportation Trust Fund) and federal funding.

hbelkins

In Kentucky, cities and counties get money from the state as a percentage of gas tax revenues. There is a formula written into state statute. In addition, the state can provide emergency funding for repairs. AFAIK no local tax revenue (property, payroll, etc.) goes to maintenance of city streets or county roads.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

WashuOtaku

Quote from: GaryV on June 18, 2016, 07:55:15 PM
For other states where counties - and under them cities, towns, villages and townships - maintain the roads, where do the localities get their money?

For both North and South Carolina, the state DOT provide some funds to city maintenance (which maintain non-primary routes), but for the most part the city pays for them with local taxes (i.e. property tax, sales tax, etc.)  Also both states maintain the lion share of roads since their is no county component.  North Carolina is #2 largest and South Carolina is #4 largest; Texas is 1st.

cpzilliacus

Quote from: froggie on June 18, 2016, 12:37:42 PM
Adding onto what Mike said, the genesis of it was the Depression...the counties couldn't afford to maintain their roads when the Depression hit, so the Byrd Act was passed and all but the two aforementioned counties had their roads taken over by VDOT's predecessor.

There has also been a strong desire that all counties across the Commonwealth (never mind the cities and most of the towns, except for certain freeways) have primary and secondary highway systems that are reasonably uniform in terms of design and perhaps especially maintenance.

Post Merge: June 19, 2016, 10:25:17 PM

Quote from: GaryV on June 18, 2016, 07:55:15 PM
It sounds like VA simply kept the whole pot and divvies it out by paying for roads, not by grants to local governments.

In the vast majority of Virginia's counties where VDOT maintains the secondary roads, by law, the county elected officials have no official say-so when it comes to the operation and upkeep of said roads.  VDOT does effectively look to the county comprehensive plan documents when building something new, but it is VDOT, and not the counties, that has the last say.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

SP Cook

Quote from: cl94 on June 18, 2016, 01:00:08 PM
West Virginia maintains virtually everything as well.

Correct.  In WV it is, or at least was, called the "Tax Limitation Amendment"  In the Depression, counties, which were and still are mostly funded by property taxes, were broke.  The state took over the entire highway function from counties, which have no highway functions at all.  This supposedly freed up the county taxes, which were not reduced, for everything else counties do.

"County" is just a class or road, denoting (generally) lower quality than a "State" or "US" highway, but all are maintained by the state.  The only exception are city streets, and that is not even really true.  Every city street that bears a number is still a state maintained road.  The main streets of a town are almost always going to be a US or WV route, and thus state maintained.  And in most towns, many streets carry "secret" county route numbers and are also state maintined.  And, most cities fudge, getting their politicians to move route number around (4th Ave is US 60 when it needs paved, then US 60 moves to 5th Ave the next year and gets paved...)

This, of course, lead to a different political dynamic (roughly democrats favor maintance of small local roads in their power base area, Republicans favor building major 4 lanes, roughly) and a HUGE highway department with 38,759 miles under state maintance.   The DOH even (for a fee) maintains the city streets of several towns.


hbelkins

Quote from: cpzilliacus on June 19, 2016, 10:04:15 PM
In the vast majority of Virginia's counties where VDOT maintains the secondary roads, by law, the county elected officials have no official say-so when it comes to the operation and upkeep of said roads.  VDOT does effectively look to the county comprehensive plan documents when building something new, but it is VDOT, and not the counties, that has the last say.

But I would suspect that VDOT pays special attention when a local official complains about a state-maintained secondary route. Even though Kentucky has roads that are county maintained, if a local official raises a concern about a state highway, that complaint will get special attention from KYTC personnel.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

cpzilliacus

Quote from: hbelkins on June 20, 2016, 12:59:33 PM
Quote from: cpzilliacus on June 19, 2016, 10:04:15 PM
In the vast majority of Virginia's counties where VDOT maintains the secondary roads, by law, the county elected officials have no official say-so when it comes to the operation and upkeep of said roads.  VDOT does effectively look to the county comprehensive plan documents when building something new, but it is VDOT, and not the counties, that has the last say.

But I would suspect that VDOT pays special attention when a local official complains about a state-maintained secondary route. Even though Kentucky has roads that are county maintained, if a local official raises a concern about a state highway, that complaint will get special attention from KYTC personnel.

Yeah, complaints from county (and sometimes municipal, though not as much, since VDOT maintains relatively little within the cities and towns) elected officials probably do get more attention than a complaint from a regular citizen. 

When retired Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10) was a member of Congress, he "trained" many of his constituents to call his office when they had a problem with something maintained by VDOT (IMO inappropriate, as he was a member of Congress, not the Virginia General Assembly), and then reaped the reward for getting VDOT to do something (even though VDOT would have probably corrected the problem without help from Wolf).

There are certainly members from both parties in the Virginia General Assembly that keep close tabs on VDOT, and submit problem reports and complaints to them  (and since VDOT is a state agency, that is a good thing).

Though I have never lived in Virginia, I drive there quite a lot, and have submitted maintenance requests to VDOT both by phone and (more recently) online, and the problems tend to get addressed. 

Usually simple stuff, like potholes, signs knocked-down or guardrails damaged, though I did inform them not so long ago of a bridge stringer that had been struck by an overheight vehicle on I-495 and rather badly damaged, and they seemed not to be aware of it until I called them (it had not been repaired the last time I was by there, but they are aware of it).
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

Brandon

In Illinois, there are several entities that may maintain a specific road or street.

1. IDOT.  IDOT maintains marked and unmarked state highways only.  Maintained through the state's fuel taxes.

2. ISTHA.  ISTHA only maintains its tollways and associated ramps.  Maintained only by tolls.

3. Counties.  The counties maintain their county highways, but not IDOT/ISTHA highways or local streets/roads.  These county highways may be in both unincorporated and incorporated areas.  Maintained by a combination of county fuel taxes, sales taxes, and property taxes.

4. Municipalities (Cities, Villages, Incorporated Towns).  The municipalities maintain municipal streets and, in some cases, marked state highways (Lake Shore Drive in Chicago is a prime example - signed as US-41, maintained by CDOT).  Maintained by a combination of municipal fuel taxes, sales taxes, and property taxes.

5. Townships.  Unincorporated townships maintain local streets in unincorporated areas and rural roads, also in unincorporated areas.  Maintained through property taxes.
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1995hoo

Quote from: hbelkins on June 20, 2016, 12:59:33 PM
Quote from: cpzilliacus on June 19, 2016, 10:04:15 PM
In the vast majority of Virginia's counties where VDOT maintains the secondary roads, by law, the county elected officials have no official say-so when it comes to the operation and upkeep of said roads.  VDOT does effectively look to the county comprehensive plan documents when building something new, but it is VDOT, and not the counties, that has the last say.

But I would suspect that VDOT pays special attention when a local official complains about a state-maintained secondary route. Even though Kentucky has roads that are county maintained, if a local official raises a concern about a state highway, that complaint will get special attention from KYTC personnel.

They do. A number of times (maybe three) when VDOT has not made a repair I've submitted on their website, such as fixing a mismarked turn lane, I've contacted our district's member of the county board of supervisors and each time the problem then got solved very quickly. I only do this for significant stuff, not routine stuff like potholes, because I figure he'll find me more credible if I only contact him about major items.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

dvferyance

Quote from: Brandon on June 20, 2016, 04:55:36 PM
In Illinois, there are several entities that may maintain a specific road or street.

1. IDOT.  IDOT maintains marked and unmarked state highways only.  Maintained through the state's fuel taxes.

2. ISTHA.  ISTHA only maintains its tollways and associated ramps.  Maintained only by tolls.

3. Counties.  The counties maintain their county highways, but not IDOT/ISTHA highways or local streets/roads.  These county highways may be in both unincorporated and incorporated areas.  Maintained by a combination of county fuel taxes, sales taxes, and property taxes.

4. Municipalities (Cities, Villages, Incorporated Towns).  The municipalities maintain municipal streets and, in some cases, marked state highways (Lake Shore Drive in Chicago is a prime example - signed as US-41, maintained by CDOT).  Maintained by a combination of municipal fuel taxes, sales taxes, and property taxes.

5. Townships.  Unincorporated townships maintain local streets in unincorporated areas and rural roads, also in unincorporated areas.  Maintained through property taxes.
I know this is off topic but I wanted to address my argument for the split routes in Indiana still being signed as a state highway. So Chicago can maintain roads that are signed a state highway. If so Indiana could do the same because it's being done elsewhere.

cpzilliacus

Quote from: dvferyance on June 20, 2016, 07:40:50 PM
I know this is off topic but I wanted to address my argument for the split routes in Indiana still being signed as a state highway. So Chicago can maintain roads that are signed a state highway. If so Indiana could do the same because it's being done elsewhere.

In Virginia, that is standard operating procedure for primary system routes (including bannered business and alternate roues) that pass through cities and towns.   They are maintained by the municipality, but are still (supposed to be) signed as a state or U.S. route.

Some Virginia municipalities a terrible job of signing those routes within their corporate limits.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

hbelkins

Quote from: cpzilliacus on June 20, 2016, 03:49:03 PM
When retired Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10) was a member of Congress, he "trained" many of his constituents to call his office when they had a problem with something maintained by VDOT (IMO inappropriate, as he was a member of Congress, not the Virginia General Assembly), and then reaped the reward for getting VDOT to do something (even though VDOT would have probably corrected the problem without help from Wolf).

We occasionally get a letter that is filtered down from the congressman who represents the majority of our highway district. There seems to be a mentality that calling/writing your Member of Congress (or U.S. senator) will get results faster because they're more powerful since they're the federal government. What typically happens is that someone from the federal elected representative's field office will send the complaint to KYTC in Frankfort, along with a letter from the congressman or senator saying "I was recently contacted by my constituent Joe Blow concerning blah blah blah." That then gets forwarded to the district for a response that the KYTC Secretary signs and sends to the constituent. It doesn't mean the problem gets solved any faster, especially if the problem involves a county road or city street that is out of KYTC's jurisdiction. That happens often, too, because a lot of people think writing the governor will get a problem with a local road fixed. (It won't.)


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

cpzilliacus

Quote from: hbelkins on June 21, 2016, 02:28:36 PM
We occasionally get a letter that is filtered down from the congressman who represents the majority of our highway district. There seems to be a mentality that calling/writing your Member of Congress (or U.S. senator) will get results faster because they're more powerful since they're the federal government. What typically happens is that someone from the federal elected representative's field office will send the complaint to KYTC in Frankfort, along with a letter from the congressman or senator saying "I was recently contacted by my constituent Joe Blow concerning blah blah blah." That then gets forwarded to the district for a response that the KYTC Secretary signs and sends to the constituent. It doesn't mean the problem gets solved any faster, especially if the problem involves a county road or city street that is out of KYTC's jurisdiction. That happens often, too, because a lot of people think writing the governor will get a problem with a local road fixed. (It won't.)

I think that Maryland DOT and Virginia DOT handle things the same way.  A letter from a member of the U.S. House or U.S. Senate gets sent to the appropriate district (or if the road in question is maintained by a county or municipal government, to that locality - quite common in Maryland, since the counties maintain most of what Virginia would call "secondary" roads).   When the problem has been handled, either the secretary or someone else senior (SHA Administrator in Maryland, Commissioner of Highways in Virginia) sends that letter to the constituent and the Representative or Senator.

Best way to report a problem is to call the appropriate DOT office, or submit a request online. That computer process works better in Virginia than it does in Maryland, though the VDOT Web site has an annoying limit on the file size of submitted images (sending a geotagged image is apparently very helpful for the maintenance people that go out to fix the problem (or in the case of smashed guardrails, to mark the sections of guardrail that need to be replaced)).

Both states are reasonably good about getting stuff fixed.  Because VDOT has outsourced all of its Interstate maintenance to private contractors, I actually got a call within about 10 minutes from the contractor when I reported (to VDOT) that a bridge deck on I-66 had a collection of small but very annoying potholes, and the potholes were filled within a week.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

SP Cook

What HB describes is SOP for pretty much every congressman or senator, and not just with highways.  People write their congressman about all sorts of issues that are actually under state or even local control.  Some low level functionary send a letter "from" the congressman to whatever agency is actually responsible, and a reply letter is generated.  I have never, ever, ever, heard of any agency actually handling that person's concern any differently than anyone else's.  Nor should they.




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