Snow removal leaves budget hole

A truck nearly misses a large pothole on Powhite Parkway. Lisa Billings/Chesterfield Observer Though a good snowstorm is beautiful to behold, its aftermath can be inconvenient, messy – and expensive. Chesterfield County has spent $3.5 million on snow removal so far this year, surpassing its allotted budget by $1 million, according to Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) spokesperson Dawn Eichen.

“We’re still waiting for bills to come in,” says Eichen. “It’s difficult to put a bow on it and say, ‘We’re all done with the snow [and] this is how much it cost.’ We’re still dealing with it now.”

That $3.5 million figure only covers Chesterfield’s primary and secondary routes; highways like Interstate 95, Interstate 295, Route 288 and the Powhite and Chippenham parkways are outsourced to a contractor and paid for out of another budget.

The money has been well spent, according to Dale Totten, the VDOT administrator for the Chesterfield and Powhatan residency areas.

“Our goal is to have those primary and secondary routes cleared within 24 hours of cessation of falling weather,” he says. “We’d like to have all our roads 100 percent passable within 72 hours of cessation of falling weather. We’ve done pretty well. We have had a very high percentage of our roadways passable within 72 hours, and we’ve actually had our primaries cleared within 12 hours.”

Budgetary concerns take a backseat to safety, which remains a top priority. “We deal with the weather as it comes,” says Totten. “Our obligation is to handle it” without thinking about the resulting cost.

In addition to the $2.5 million originally allotted for snow removal, VDOT’s budget for Chesterfield allocated $315,000 for anti-icing services during FY10 (ending June 30). Of that portion, only $63,000 has been spent. According to Totten, the county had under-spent its overall budget by $600,000 as of Dec. 1, so it has a little more leeway.

“It all comes from the same pot,” says Totten. “When we get to the end of winter season, we’ll look at where our budget is and how our overall maintenance has been impacted. We’ve got to find a way to then under-spend for the remainder of the year. There will probably be less money available for pavement repair, grass mowing, that sort of thing.”

In addition to removing snow after a storm, VDOT is also responsible for dealing with the resulting potholes. Potholes form when moisture seeps into pavement, freezes, expands and thaws, thereby weakening the pavement. The weight of traffic loosens the pavement, and over time it begins to crumble. As of Feb. 19, VDOT crews in the Chesterfield Residency had used 1,060 50-pound bags of cold patch (a semi-permanent fix used when the pavement temperature is below 40 degrees) and approximately 100 tons of hot asphalt (a more permanent fix) to repair potholes.

Last week, Gov. Bob McDonnell announced a statewide “pothole blitz,” directing VDOT to make pothole repair its top priority during the month of March. Despite budget challenges, VDOT has not cut back on pothole repair because it is considered a safety program. So far, the Chesterfield Residency, which includes Chesterfield and Powhatan counties, has spent $1.3 million of its $2.5 million budget for pavement repair, which includes pothole patching, crack sealing and pavement leveling.

Despite an extraordinarily active winter, VDOT is prepared to handle any additional snowstorms that may come our way.

“When we’re in this kind of mode, we’re in a constant state of replenishing our supplies,” including sand, treated sand and rock salt, says Totten. “As we’re using it up, we’re procuring more so that by the time we’re done fighting one event, our warehouse is stocked with supplies for the next one.”

Totten asks residents to have reasonable expectations for VDOT’s expediency and services. “We do our best to get folks to be able to get out on roadways as soon as possible,” he says.

To report a pothole, citizens should visit www.VirginiaDOT.org or call VDOT’s Highway Helpline at (800) 367-7683 (ROAD).