DRAFT GUIDELINES FOR RURAL RUSTIC ROADS

In accordance with HB659 of 2002 Virginia General Assembly Session

Effective July 1, 2003

Criteria –

o Must be an unpaved road already within the State Secondary System.

o Must carry at least 50 but no more than 500 vehicles per day.

o Must be a priority (line item) in an approved Secondary Six-Year Plan, even if funding is not from Secondary allocations.

o Governing body of County, in consultation with VDOT’s Resident Engineer, must designate a road or road segment as a Rural Rustic Road.

o Road must be in area that is low-density, and should be evaluated for appropriate warning signs or posted speed limit that is consistent with topography and features of the road.

o Roadway or roadway section must be predominately for local traffic use.

o The local nature of the road means that most motorists using the road have traveled it before and are familiar with its features.

o County Board of Supervisors will endeavor to limit growth on roads improved under the Rural Rustic Road program and cooperate with the Department through its comprehensive planning process to develop lands consistent with rural rustic road concepts.

o Requires a special Resolution by County Board of Supervisors for each individual road.

VDOT Review -

o Consider the views of the governing body making the request and of the residents and owners of the adjacent property.

o Consider the historical and aesthetic significance of such road and its surroundings.

o Leave trees, vegetation, side slopes, and open drainage abutting the roadway undisturbed to the maximum extent possible.

o Improvements along Rural Rustic Roads may be less than minimum design standards, as outlined in the Chief Engineer’s memorandum dated June 11, 2002. AASHTO’s Guidelines For Geometric Design of Very Low-Volume Local Roads (ADT <= 400) may be used as a guide for roads up to 500 vpd.

o Encouraged to look for evidence of site-specific safety problems and to focus safety expenditures on those sites where a site-specific safety problem exists.

o Low volume local roads have very few crashes.

o Even when 5 – 10 year crash data are available, this data will often be so sparse that other indicators of safety problems should be considered as well.

o Such other indicators may include field reviews to note skid marks or roadside damage, speed data (which may indicate whether speeds are substantially higher than the intended design speed), or concerns raised by police or local residents.

Approval Process -

o Resident Engineer shall be VDOT’s designated representative in dealing with County Boards of Supervisors regarding Rural Rustic Roads. This authority has been given by the Chief Engineer’s memorandum of (date to be determined).

o Board of Supervisors requests Resident Engineer evaluate a section of road as a candidate for the Rural Rustic Roads program.

o Board of Supervisors designates road as Rural Rustic Road by resolution.

o Resident Engineer concurs in designation and determines if improvements can be made according to Rural Rustic Road concepts.

o If for some reason the Board of Supervisors does not accept the final decision from the Resident Engineer after consideration by the District Administrator’s office, a final appeal may be sent through the Resident Engineer and District Administrator to the Chief Engineer for consideration by the Commissioner.

o Resident Engineer requests assistance from other divisions, as needed.

o Requires State Environmental Review Process.

o Requires permit determination by Environmental staff of VDOT.

o Requires scoping documentation (either LD-430 package or other documentation as established by Committee and approved by VDOT Management).

Environmental Requirements for Rural Rustic Roads

All projects being considered for this program should be reviewed by the Residency Environmental Specialist or District Environmental Staff for consideration of the following:

1. SERP (Requires 60-90 days)

· Is not required if there are:

i. No improvements (no earth moving activity)

ii. No horizontal/vertical realignments

iii. No widening

iv. No acquisition of right of way

2. Water Quality Permits (Requires 1-135 days)

· Are not required if there are:

i. No streams

ii. No waterbodies

iii. No wetlands

iv. No water in pipes/culverts/ditches

3. Cultural Resources (Requires 7-30 days)

· No coordination is required if there are:

i. No water quality permits

ii. Project is not located within a Rural Historic District listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register and/or the National Register of Historic Places. Such districts include, but may not be limited to, the Green Springs Historic District (Louisa Counties), the Catoctin Rural Historic District (Loudoun and Fauquier Counties), and the Madison-Barbour Rural Historic District (Madison and Orange Counties).

4. Threatened and Endangered Species (Requires 30-135 days)

· A database search on the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries website must be conducted by the Residency Environmental Specialist for all projects.

· No further coordination is required if there are:

i. No water quality permits

ii. No threatened and endangered species identified in collections on the DGIF database.

5. Agricultural and Forestal Districts (Requires 30-60 days)

· No coordination is required if there will be:

i. No purchase of right of way

ii. No exchange of right of way for work performed by VDOT

1. Straight donation of right of way is acceptable

6. VPDES Permit (Requires 14 days)

· Is not required if there is:

i. No clearing, grading, or excavating (earthwork or manipulation of subgrade and shoulders) that results in land disturbance equal to or greater than 1 acre on one project or any combination of adjacent projects

7. Hazardous Materials (Requires variable amount of time)

· No coordination is required if there is:

i. No obvious signs of contamination within the project vicinity