VDOT News - Richmond

SOUTH CHESTERFIELD, Va. – Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Richmond District crews are hard at work cutting fallen trees from Saturday’s ice storm into smaller pieces and moving them to the roadsides. More than 1000 fallen trees were reported in the 14-county district after the ice storm, and hundreds of roads still remain closed.

 “We’re looking to make a lot of progress Monday and through the week reopening roads,” said Richmond District Maintenance Engineer Sean Nelson, P.E. “We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we appreciate drivers’ patience and understanding that Saturday’s ice storm was particularly unforgiving in the south-central area of the Commonwealth.” 

Once trees are cut and removed from travel lanes, crews will follow up in the weeks ahead and remove debris from the roadsides.   

 Tips for drivers

• Please do not move or drive around any road closure signs or barriers. Roads are closed for motorist safety and hazards such as fallen trees or active fallen power lines may lie ahead.
• If you see a non-functioning traffic signal, treat it as a four-way stop. Crews are working to restore traffic signals as quickly as possible.
• Report road hazards or inactive traffic signals to VDOT at 800-FOR-ROAD (800-367-7623) or https://my.vdot.virginia.gov/.

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VDOT’s Richmond District oversees road maintenance activities on approximately 19,000 lane miles of roads in 14 counties in central Virginia: Amelia, Brunswick, Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico (primary routes only), Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, New Kent, Nottoway, Powhatan and Prince George counties. Henrico County provides road maintenance for their secondary roads (numbered 600 and above) and subdivision streets. Cities that provide their own road maintenance include Colonial Heights, Hopewell, Petersburg and Richmond, and the towns of Ashland, Blackstone, Chase City and South Hill.

Information in VDOT news releases was accurate at the time the release was published. For the most current information about projects or programs, please visit the project or program Web pages. You may find those by searching by keyword in the search Virginia DOT box above.