What's getting paved?

Help sought for Big Ridge, Riverbend roads

By Amy Boucher

INDEPENDENCE – Three Grayson County residents spoke at a public hearing May 8 on the Virginia Department of Transportation’s plan for improving secondary roads over the next six years. Two supported improvements to Big Ridge Road and one asked for work on Riverbend Road.

Both roads are in the six-year plan, but will not see construction until the latter years of the plan, Riverbend in 2016-17 and Big Ridge in 2017-18.

Jeff Russell of VDOT’s Wytheville Residency briefed the Grayson Board of Supervisors on the plan. He said that Grayson has qualified for more construction projects because the “rural rustic” road designation, which allows VDOT to surface roads without significantly rebuilding them, only requires a count of 50 vehicles per day.

Steve Cornett and Diana Shields both asked that the unpaved portion of Big Ridge Road be paved. The road was added to the plan this year, but construction won’t be completed until 2018, assuming that VDOT funding stays on track as outlined in the plan.

Cornett said the section from Sweetwater Road to Virginia 658 is a thoroughfare and that it has been “40 years to getting the entire section paved.”

Cornett said the part of the road that has been paved “was not done correctly” and has been patched and is rough. “It’s in terrible condition, the paved portion, now.”

Shields said she was among those who lobbied for paving Big Ridge 40 years ago. She said the road creates a huge amount of dust, partly because of the Christmas tree trucks that use it. “I have to live on Claritin.” She asked officials to “move it up a year or two” on the plan.

Joy Murray of Riverbend Road said she has been attending secondary road hearings for 14 years. Half of the road is due to be paved as a rural rustic road by 2016. “Please do our whole road,” she implored. “Our road washes away, part of our road, every time the river gets up.”

The six-year plan unanimously approved by the Grayson supervisors includes:

* Spring Valley Road, at the intersection with 604, Old Colonial Road, .1 mile: reconstruct, replace the bridge, improve pavement, 2014.

* Shale Hollow Road from 857 to 805, .15 mile: reconstruct and surface, 2014.

* Freedom Lane, from 604 to end of state maintenance, .5 mile: reconstruct and surface, 2014-15.

*Hidden Valley Road, from U.S. 21 to end of state maintenance, .85 mile: reconstruct and surface, 2015-16.

* Clover Lane, from 660 to end of state maintenance, .12 mile: reconstruct and surface, 2015-16.

* Riverbend Road, from 602 to 1.8 miles east of 601, 1.8 miles: reconstruct and surface, 2016-17.

* Old Ferry Road, from U.S. 58 to 634, .95 miles: reconstruct and surface, 2016-17.

* Big Ridge Road, from 662 to 764, 1.6 miles: reconstruct and surface, 2017-18.

* Little Road, from 668 to 673, .2 miles: reconstruct and surface, 2017-2018.

* Scale House Lane, from .8 mile west of 634 to 634, .8 mile: reconstruct and surface, 2018-19.

* Longview Lane, from .55 mile west of 631 to 631, .55 mile: reconstruct and surface, 2018-19.

* Rock Creek Lane, from 687 to 888, .8 mile: reconstruct and surface, 2019-2020.

Wilson District Supervisor Glen “Eddie” Rosenbaum said a county resident asked him about paving the remaining 2.3 miles of Stone’s Chapel Road, which has 15 homes and 5 cabins.

County Administrator Jonathan Sweet said the present list was approved in 2009 and that many roads have been on the list for 12 years or more. “If it’s on this list, it’s already been deemed a priority.”

Next year or the following year the county will put together a road review committee to compile a new list of priority roads, he said.

Russell said that the new section would complete the paving of Big Ridge and that VDOT works on roads like Stone’s Chapel “one bite at a time.”