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VDOT says long-awaited paving in Colonial Beach subdivision won't begin until next spring Date published: 9/15/2009
BY FRANK DELANO Only three-tenths of a mile of help is on the horizon next year for residents seeking paved streets in Riverside Meadows in Colonial Beach. VDOT officials told Westmoreland County supervisors that the paving of .32 mile of Santa Maria Avenue has been postponed until next spring, not this fall as originally scheduled. That will still leave 3.3 miles of dusty, muddy dirt roads in the subdivision for residents to endure until state and local money becomes available to pave them. If it ever becomes available at all. Matching funds for the first piece of paving were appropriated in 2008-- $50,000 from Westmoreland County and $50,000 from Colonial Beach. Facing tight budgets, the jurisdictions approved no additional funds this year for any subsequent asphalt. VDOT agreed to match the $100,000 local contribution with funds from its shrinking revenue-sharing program. Town officials, however, encountered problems establishing right-of-way lines for some lots in the subdivision. "We didn't get the plats until last month," said Sean P. Trepani, VDOT administrator for the Northern Neck. The surveys were necessary to transfer ownership of the Santa Maria right-of-way to the state. The right-of-way will probably be accepted by the Commonwealth Transportation Board next month, he said. Only then can VDOT begin to obtain permits to pave the road. Winter weather will probably arrive before the permits, he said. Whenever the roadwork occurs, Trepani said, new drainage pipes under the road should partially help two next-door neighbors on Santa Maria who complained to Colonial Beach Town Council last week. Tim Vaughan and Susan C. Sokol said a contractor hired by the town to improve drainage behind their homes made the problem worse. "The grade is not correct, and water does not flow as it should," Sokol said. In heavy rains, water ponds up to 8 inches deep in their yards, Sokol said. Trepani said the new drainage pipes should help take water away from Vaughan's and Sokol's yards, but they will do nothing to keep it from coming in.
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