The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is the agency of the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

government responsible for transportation in the state of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. VDOT is headquartered at the

Virginia Department of Highways Building Virginia Department of Highways Building, also known as the State Highway Commission Building, is a historic government office building located in Richmond, Virginia. The building serves as headquarters for the Virginia Department of Transportatio ...

downtown Richmond Downtown Richmond is the central business district of Richmond, Virginia. It is generally defined as being bound by Belvidere Street to the west, I-95 to the north and east, and the James River to the south. The Fan district borders it to the ...

. VDOT is responsible for building, maintaining, and operating the

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types o ...

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...

s, and

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

s in the

commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

. It is overseen by the

Commonwealth Transportation Board The Commonwealth Transportation Board, formerly the State Highway and Transportation Board, regulates and funds transportation in Virginia. It oversees the Virginia Department of Transportation. Membership The Board consists of seventeen members: * ...

, which has the power to fund

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as ...

rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' ( ...

, and

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...

ation. VDOT's revised annual

budget A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environme ...

for fiscal year 2019 is $5.4 billion. VDOT has a workforce of about 7,500 full-time employees.

Responsibilities

VDOT operates and maintains: * Roads: VDOT's largest responsibility is the maintenance of roads. Filling

potholes A pothole is a depression in a road surface, usually asphalt pavement, where traffic has removed broken pieces of the pavement. It is usually the result of water in the underlying soil structure and traffic passing over the affected area. Water ...

storm drain A storm drain, storm sewer (United Kingdom, U.S. and Canada), surface water drain/sewer (United Kingdom), or stormwater drain (Australia and New Zealand) is infrastructure designed to drain excess rain and ground water from impervious surfa ...

cleaning, water drainage, guard rail replacement, bridge work, tree removal, and trash removal, as well as the maintenance of signs and

traffic light Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – known also as robots in South Africa are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control flows of traffic. Traffic light ...

s. * More than 21,000

s and structures * Snow removal: VDOT is responsible for removing snow along the major roads of Virginia. * Forty-one safety

rest area A rest area is a public facility located next to a large thoroughfare such as a motorway, expressway, or highway, at which drivers and passengers can rest, eat, or refuel without exiting onto secondary roads. Other names include motorway serv ...

s and ten welcome centers along major highways *More than 100 commuter

parking lot A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface ...

s *Four underwater crossings in the

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James, Nansemond and Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point where the Chesapeake Bay flows into the Atlantic ...

area: **The mid-town Elizabeth River tunnel

Elizabeth River Crossings Elizabeth River Crossings (ERC), officially known as Elizabeth River Crossings OpCo, LLC, is a limited liability company whose sole purpose is to finance, deliver, operate and maintain the Elizabeth River Tunnels Project in the South Hampton Ro ...

operates these facilities **The

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ...

Elizabeth River tunnel **The

Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region *Hampton, Victoria Canada *Hampton, New Brunswick *Hamp ...

Interstate 64 Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern terminus is at an interchang ...

**The Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel on

Interstate 664 Interstate 664 (I-664) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in the US state of Virginia. The Interstate runs from I-64 and I-264 in Chesapeake north to I-64 in Hampton. I-664 forms the west side of the Hampton Roads Beltway, a circumferen ...

*Two mountain

s on

Interstate 77 Interstate 77 (I-77) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. It traverses diverse terrain, from the mountainous state of West Virginia to the rolling farmlands of North Carolina and Ohio. It largely supplants the ...

in southwest Virginia: **

East River Mountain Tunnel The East River Mountain Tunnel is a vehicular tunnel that carries Interstate 77 (I-77) and U.S. Route 52 (US 52) through East River Mountain between the communities of Bluefield, West Virginia, and Rocky Gap, Virginia. History Ground ...

Big Walker Mountain Tunnel The Big Walker Mountain Tunnel is a vehicular tunnel in the Appalachian Mountains of Southwest Virginia that carries Interstate 77 through and under Big Walker Mountain. It is located a few miles south of the town of Bland in Bland County and a ...

* Two

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or '' toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implement ...

s: **

Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. ...

's Dulles Toll Road (operated and maintained by MWAA) ** The Powhite Parkway Extension near

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...

*One

toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or '' toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road ...

: The

George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge The George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge (known locally as simply the Coleman Bridge) is a double swing bridge that spans the York River between Yorktown and Gloucester Point, in the United States state of Virginia. It connects the Peninsula and ...

*Three

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...

services: **

Jamestown Ferry The Jamestown Ferry (also known as the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry) is a free automobile and bus ferry service across a navigable portion of the James River in Virginia. It carries State Route 31, connecting Jamestown in James City County with Sc ...

** Sunny Bank ** Merry Point

Budget

Highway maintenance and operations represent 41% of the total budget, followed by 32% for highway systems construction. Smaller portions of the budget are directed to address the needs and requirements of debt service, support to other agencies, administration, and earmarks and special financing.

Sources

(in millions)

Expenditures

(in millions)

Districts

Virginia is divided into nine districts: *Bristol District **Counties: Bland, Buchanan, Dickenson, Grayson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise and Wythe **Cities: Bristol, Norton *Salem District **Counties: Bedford, Botetourt, Carroll, Craig, Floyd, Franklin, Giles, Henry, Montgomery, Patrick, Pulaski and Roanoke **Cities: Bedford, Galax, Martinsville, Radford, Roanoke and Salem *Lynchburg District **Counties: Amherst, Appomattox, Buckingham, Campbell, Charlotte, Cumberland, Halifax, Nelson, Pittsylvania and Prince Edward **Cities: Danville and Lynchburg *Richmond District **Counties: Amelia, Brunswick, Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico,Henrico county maintains its own county roads Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, New Kent, Nottoway, Powhatan, and Prince George **Cities: Colonial Heights, Hopewell, Petersburg, and Richmond *Hampton Roads DistrictCities in the Hampton Roads district maintain their own roads **Counties: Accomack, Isle of Wight,The town of Smithfield maintains its own roads James City, Northampton, Southampton, Surry, Sussex, York, and Greensville **Cities: Chesapeake, Emporia, Franklin, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, and Williamsburg *Fredericksburg District **Counties: Caroline, Essex, Gloucester, King and Queen, King George, King William, Lancaster, Mathews, Middlesex, Northumberland, Richmond, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Westmoreland **Cities: Fredericksburg *Culpeper District **Counties: Albemarle, Culpeper, Fauquier, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Madison, Orange, and Rappahannock **Cities: Charlottesville *Staunton District **Counties: Alleghany, Augusta, Bath, Clarke, Frederick, Highland, Page, Rockbridge, Rockingham, Shenandoah, and Warren **Cities: Buena Vista, Covington, Harrisonburg, Lexington, Staunton, Waynesboro, and Winchester *Northern Virginia District **Counties: Arlington,Arlington county maintains its own county roads Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William **Cities: Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park

District Notes

511

Many US states, as well as several US local governments and

Canadian provinces Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

, provide 511 systems. VDOT provides the Virginia 511 service, which may be accessed by the 511 telephone number, the https://www.511virginia.org/ website, and Twitter. In May 2012, VDOT introduced the Virginia 511 smartphone apps for Apple and Android devices. The Virginia 511 system provides

traffic camera A traffic camera is a video camera which observes vehicular traffic on a road. Typically, traffic cameras are put along major roads such as highways, freeways, expressways and arterial roads, and are connected by optical fibers buried alongside or ...

s, real-time road and traffic conditions, trip planning, weather information, and alternatives to traveling by car.

Controversies

Closing of rest areas

In July 2009, VDOT closed 19 of its

rest areas A rest area is a public facility located next to a large thoroughfare such as a motorway, expressway, or highway, at which drivers and passengers can rest, eat, or refuel without exiting onto secondary roads. Other names include motorway serv ...

around the state, leaving some stretches of highway, such as

I-81 Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee; its northern terminus is on Wellesley Isla ...

which is a popular route for trucks, or the heavily traveled and often congested

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...

northbound between Washington, D.C. and

, a distance of , without a rest stop. Drivers complained that people who needed to use the restroom would have nowhere to go. VDOT countered that the I-95 corridor is highly developed, and many businesses have restrooms, and that closing the rest stops would save VDOT 9 million dollars toward its 2.6 billion dollar budget deficit. In January 2010, governor

Bob McDonnell Robert Francis McDonnell (born June 15, 1954) is an American attorney, businessman, politician, and former military officer who served as the 71st governor of Virginia from 2010 to 2014. His career ended after his corruption scandal and convi ...

announced that he would reopen all of the closed rest areas as part of his campaign promises. The state is using an "adopt a rest stop" program, pulling 3 million dollars from the reserve maintenance fund, and employing non-violent inmates to help reopen the rest stops. They all reopened on April 17, 2010.

Roadside memorials

Spontaneous

roadside memorial A roadside memorial is a marker that usually commemorates a site where a person died suddenly and unexpectedly, away from home. Unlike a grave site headstone, which marks where a body is laid, the memorial marks the last place on earth where a ...

s, often in the form of white

crosses Crosses may refer to: * Cross, the symbol Geography * Crosses, Cher, a French municipality * Crosses, Arkansas, a small community located in the Ozarks of north west Arkansas Language * Crosses, a truce term used in East Anglia and Lincolnshire ...

Stars of David The Star of David (). is a generally recognized symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the ''seal of Solomon'', which was used for decorative ...

, bouquets of flowers, and photos of the dead, have been placed along roads at the scenes of fatal accidents. As of July 1, 2003, Virginia law has banned these memorials. Transportation officials have deemed them a threat to the safety of motorists. Virginia law §33.2-216 prohibits any person from installing a memorial on any highway controlled by the VDOT without a permit. VDOT will install a roadside memorial sign, normally for a period of two years. The sign may not deviate from the standard roadside memorial sign specifications. The cost must by paid by the person requesting the sign. Not everyone agreed with the new program. Vowing to ignore the program, Del.

Robert G. Marshall Robert Gerald Marshall (born May 3, 1944) is an American businessman, author and former politician, who was a Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates representing the 13th District. His district included portions of Prince Will ...

(R-Prince William), whose son was killed in an auto accident along Interstate 81 in November 2001, said: :This is the bureaucratization of love. I don't like it one bit. I intend to put a cross up for my son. Period. By marking an accident site, survivors create "a living memory of this person's life," said Donna Schuurman, president of Association for Death Education and Counseling. Americans have swept the grieving process under the rug, and now it's popping up in public ways that few expected—and that some don't like, according to Ms. Schuurman.

HOT lanes

In 1995, Virginia passed the Public-Private Transportation Act (PPTA), which allows the state to enter into agreements with private entities to construct, improve, maintain and operate transportation facilities. Since then, Virginia has proposed or awarded several PPTA contracts, including: *

Capital Beltway The Capital Beltway is a Interstate Highway in the Washington metropolitan area that surrounds Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and its inner suburbs in adjacent Maryland and Virginia. It is the basis of the phrase " inside ...

(I-495) HOT Lanes (Completed in November 2012) **14 miles of four HOV/HOT lanes on the Capital Beltway between the

Springfield Interchange The Springfield Interchange, also known as the Mixing Bowl, is the interchange of Interstate 95, Interstate 395, and Interstate 495 in Springfield, Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C. The interchange is located at exit 57 on the Capital Beltw ...

and just north of the Dulles Toll Road *

I-395 Interstate 395 may refer to: * Interstate 395 (Connecticut–Massachusetts), a spur from I-95 to Auburn, Massachusetts *Interstate 395 (Delaware), a proposed portion of I-95 in Delaware, when it was under construction *Interstate 395 (Florida), a sp ...

HOT Lanes (proposed) **56 miles from

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

Spotsylvania County Spotsylvania County is a county in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the July 2021 estimate, the population was 143,676. Its county seat is Spotsylvania Courthouse. History At the time of European encounter, the inhabitants of the area that bec ...

***The HOT lanes were complete in December 2014, but the lanes stretch from just north of Edsall Road to Garrisonville

High-occupancy toll lane A high-occupancy toll lane (or HOT lane) is a type of traffic lane or roadway that is available to high-occupancy vehicles and other exempt vehicles without charge; other vehicles are required to pay a variable fee that is adjusted in response ...

s (HOT lanes) are toll lanes operating alongside existing highway lanes. They provided drivers with a faster and more reliable travel option.

Bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

es,

carpool Carpooling (also car-sharing, ride-sharing and lift-sharing) is the sharing of Automobile, car journeys so that more than one person travels in a car, and prevents the need for others to have to drive to a location themselves. By having more ...

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: Long-distance ...

s and

emergency vehicle An emergency vehicle is a vehicle used by emergency services. Emergency vehicles typically have specialized emergency lighting and vehicle equipment that allow emergency services to reach calls for service in a timely manner, transport equipment ...

s will be able to use the HOT lanes for free while drivers with fewer than three occupants can use the HOT lanes by paying a toll. The HOT lanes will use dynamic or

congestion pricing Congestion pricing or congestion charges is a system of surcharging users of public goods that are subject to congestion through excess demand, such as through higher peak charges for use of bus services, electricity, metros, railways, tele ...

to manage the number vehicles, and to keep them free-flowing. On average, vehicles are expected to be traveling 55 miles per hour, even during peak travel times.HOT Lanes FAQs
/ref> The first HOT Lanes in the nation to open was the

91 Express Lanes State Route 91 (SR 91) is a major east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California that serves several regions of the Greater Los Angeles urban area. A freeway throughout its entire length, it officially runs from Vermont Avenue ...

project in

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, ...

, opening in December 1995. A computer adjusts the toll every six minutes, raising it if too many cars are on the highway, lowering it if the highway is underutilized. Even drivers who won't pay the toll appreciate the HOT lanes diverting traffic form the regular highway. But many people are not happy about the proposed HOT lanes in

Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...

. In 2001,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

governor Parris N. Glendening (D) stopped a state study of similar proposals for the Maryland side of the Capital Beltway. The governor believed it would be unfair to low-income residents to allow affluent drivers to buy their way out of traffic. In 2003, Virginia Department of Transportation Commissioner Philip A. Shucet stated that " ngle drivers could pay $1 to $4 to get off of the congested regular lanes." By 2009, transportation planners in Washington estimated the projected rush-hour toll need to be $1.60 a mile. According to VDOT's web site:

There will be no toll cap, as tolls must be able to increase to the level necessary to manage real-time traffic demand and keep the lanes congestion free.

Those who own property along the path of the Capital Beltway HOT Lanes are growing increasingly agitated with the project. Supervisor

Sharon Bulova Sharon Schuster Bulova is an American politician who was chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in Virginia. A Democrat, she was first elected chairman in a special election on February 3, 2009. Bulova was reelected in 2011 and a ...

(D-Braddock), who represents a number of neighborhoods affected by the construction, said,

Once the project is truly underway, eventually pretty much all the trees in the VDOT right of way are going to be cleared ... I know I didn't have an appreciation of the extent of the clearing that was going to be done ... Do they really need to clear every teeny piece of vegetation in their right of way?''The Washington Post'', June 24, 2008, Amy Gardner, ""Tree Cutting Shocks HOT Lane Neighbors - Public Will Still Have Voice, VDOT Says"", Washington D.C., page B1

External links

VDOT Official Website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Virginia Department Of Transportation Transportation in Virginia State departments of transportation of the United States

Transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

1906 establishments in Virginia