VDOT News - Richmond

SOUTH CHESTERFIELD, Va. – Progress continues on the Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT) major project to remove thousands of fallen trees in its 14-county Richmond District following a high-impact ice storm on Feb. 13, 2021. Ongoing work is part of an emergency contract through the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM). Crews are currently on schedule and, weather permitting, expect roadside trees to be substantially cleared by June 2021.

Crews started by cutting and removing any hazardous hanging tree limbs, and are now following up by relocating collected roadside tree debris to designated chipping locations. As of May 10, more than 350,000 cubic yards, or more than 7,700 loads of tree debris has been removed from interstate, primary and secondary roadsides in the Richmond District. It is estimated that the Feb. 13 ice storm generated nearly 500,000 cubic yards of debris within the District. An early projected total cost of the project is nearly $23 million.

Major routes completed and other updates

Tree debris removal work has been completed on the following major routes:

• Route 460 in both Dinwiddie and Nottoway counties
• Route 307 in Nottoway County
• Interstate 85 in Dinwiddie County
• Interstate 85 in Mecklenburg County

Completion anticipated by mid-May:

• Interstate 85 in Brunswick County
• All other primary routes (numbered 1-599)

Completion anticipated by late May or early June:

• I-64 in Goochland County
• I-64 in New Kent County

Background

On Friday, Feb. 26, the VDOT Richmond District began a long-term tree debris cleanup contract with VDEM in response to the Feb. 13 freezing rain event. The storm caused ice to weigh heavily on elevated surfaces, resulting in widespread fallen trees and downed power lines. Immediately following the storm, VDOT crews moved tree debris to the roadsides and coordinated with utility companies to remove power lines so that travel lanes could reopen as quickly as possible. Crews are now moving through each affected route to pick up roadside tree debris.

What residents should know

• Crews have documented the amounts and locations of all roadside tree debris in the district.
• Please know that crews are on the way to address tree debris. Hundreds of roads were impacted by the storm and the cleanup process will take time.
• New road hazards or questions can be reported to VDOT by calling 800-FOR-ROAD (367-7623) or visiting https://my.vdot.virginia.gov/. Please remember that cities and towns maintain their own roads. Henrico County also maintains its own secondary roads.

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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.