Residents urge wider paving, guardrails and safety fixes as Bedford County reviews VDOT six‑year plan

Residents from multiple districts urged the Bedford County Board of Supervisors on April 25 to expand paving and safety work in VDOT’s draft secondary six‑year plan, citing narrow lanes, repeated washouts and danger for school buses and emergency vehicles.

“ The safety is the highest concern,” Greg Wood said, asking that Bill’s Mill Road be added to the plan after what he described as substantial residential growth in recent decades. Scott Shepherd and other callers said sections of Smyrna Hill and Pike Road remain too narrow, with frequent flooding and multiple impassable periods during storms.

VDOT residency administrator Todd Daniel presented the draft FY2023–2028 plan and said it includes 19 rural roadway projects and roughly $6.9 million in programmed work. He told the board the county’s near‑term allocation for the plan revision is likely in the $1.2 million to $1.5 million range and that updated traffic counts (many taken in 2019) will determine eligibility for unpaved‑road funding.

“ Typically, the answer is no. We don’t close these unpaved roads to construct them,” Daniel said when asked whether a project would require full road closures; he added that brief, short‑duration closures to install culverts might occur and that flaggers are used during work.

Public commenters recounted local safety incidents and practical problems that they said should change priorities. Grover Ellington said he has seen multiple accidents in front of his home and urged guardrail installation where a road drops steeply. Jim Cunningham and Randy Sexton described repeated gravel resurface work that quickly eroded and said the costs of frequent maintenance may exceed one‑time paving.

Todd Daniel said two of the projects in the draft (Old Syphax Road and Jackson Road) have been completed, four others (including Smyrna Hill and Old Farm Road) are advancing to construction with state forces this year, and several projects remain in preliminary engineering. He told the board he will return for a May 9 work session at 5 p.m. to seek consensus on two to three candidate projects for funding and that the board expects to adopt the plan in June.

The board did not take a vote on the six‑year plan at the meeting; staff will refine cost estimates, present recommended priorities at the May 9 work session, and return the draft for formal adoption at a later meeting.