VDOT News - Richmond

SOUTH CHESTERFIELD, Va. – This past weekend, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) completed the process of removing thousands of fallen trees and tree branches in its 14-county Richmond District following a high-impact ice storm that covered south-central Virginia on Feb. 13, 2021.

Work was executed through an emergency contract with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM). Crews relocated more than 460,000 cubic yards, or more than 9,100 loads of tree debris from interstate, primary and secondary roadsides in the Richmond District.

The total cost of the debris cleanup project is approximately $23 million.

“VDOT would like to thank residents for their patience during the cleanup process,” said Richmond District Maintenance Engineer Sean Nelson, P.E. “We would also like to thank VDEM, our contracting community, and all VDOT crews who worked both during the storm and for months after to make roads passable and ultimately relocate the debris.”

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 have now moved through each affected route to pick up roadside tree debris.

New road hazards or questions can be reported to VDOT by calling 800-FOR-ROAD (367-7623) or visiting https://my.vdot.virginia.gov/. 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.