Potential Road Projects Reviewed

Prior to the regular August meeting of the Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors, members of the Board met with Kevin Wright, the VDOT Residency Administrator, to review potential highway projects that are eligible under the new House Bill 2 scoring process.  “HB 2 was signed into law in 2014. It directs the Commonwealth Transportation Board to develop and use a new scoring process to select the transportation projects that will receive VDOT funding.” The scoring process will consider issues such as “resolving traffic congestion, future economic development, environmental quality, transportation coordination safety and land use considerations.” Currently, Prince Edward County has three potential projects that would score well according to the criteria set forth by HB2. They all also have the highest percentage of accidents in the County.

The three projects that it was decided should be considered are the US 460 and Route 307 Intersection, the US 15 and VA 692 Intersection, (at Kingsville) and the US 15 and Route 665 Intersection (at Worsham). All three of the potential projects are “trouble spots” and have their own specific issues to be solved and one project may be much more extensive than another. According to sources, the deadline for submitting the applications for HB2 funding for these projects is September 30, and a public hearing process should be held prior to submitting applications.

In other new business, the Prince Edward County School Board submitted a request to the Board of Supervisors for a donation of funds. That request was then submitted to the finance committee for review. The donation would be used to purchase “plaques, frames for resolutions and refreshments for a naming dedication ceremony.” The Board of Supervisors recommended that they budget $1500 for this ceremony.

Prince Edward resident Rocky Morton of Red House Road addressed the Board to complain about the lack of respect for the noise ordinances for the area he lived in. He informed the Board that he recently had open-heart surgery and needed to be in a low stress environment for proper recovery. However, vehicles were constantly passing his residence at all hours playing loud music and disturbing his rest. He asked for advice from the Board, who referred the matter to Commonwealth Attorney Ennis for advice.