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Stafford road plan moves forward; officials say it is just the first step. Date published: 4/4/2006 By MEGHANN COTTER The road to transportation solutions in Stafford is much more congested than many county supervisors would like.
Money is scarce. Engineering for each project takes years. And support from state and federal sources is, so far, slim. But the deadline for amending the county's six-year secondary road plan is coming up soon. So supervisors decided in late March to take a temporary shortcut--moving forward with a slightly amended version. The board asked the county transportation commission to review the six-year plan, which applies to roads numbered 600 and higher, in late January. Byron Hinton, chairman of that group, presented the commission's recommendations at the March 21 supervisors meeting. A public hearing must be held before submitting the amended plan to the Virginia Department of Transportation. Commissioners decided to add just one project to the 2007 plan--widening Mountain View Road to four lanes from Shelton Shop Road to Choptank Road. They also put more money into widening Shelton Shop Road to four lanes from Garrisonville Road to Mountain View Road, which was already on the six-year plan. Both projects were considered necessary because of unusually high traffic volumes, especially since the opening of Mountain View High School last fall, Hinton said. The $200,000 given to each effort was taken from the fund for a Garrisonville Road widening project. The deficit will be covered by local funding. Hinton said the commission needs more time to review money allocations for years after 2007. But commissioners believe they are off to a good start. "We think this is an overall good plan that will meet the citizens' needs and pass their sniff test," Hinton said. "For the other years there is plenty of time to do further review." Every year, localities review their secondary-road plan for the upcoming six years. In this case, they've examined projects for 2007 through 2012. They have between $3.2 and about $3.3 million to work with each year. Stafford's plan will be the last in the state to be approved this year. Any amendments must be approved by July 1 or VDOT will revert to the previously approved plan. Given that deadline, supervisors have authorized a joint public hearing with VDOT for April 18. A public hearing must be held whenever there are changes to the previously approved plan.
Read more stories about Stafford Date published: 4/4/2006
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