After voicing grievances Tuesday night about the lack of transportation funds, the Bedford County Board of Supervisors unenthusiastically approved the Virginia Department of Transportation’s six-year plan for secondary roads.
The board voted 5-2 to accept the plan’s estimated allocation of $7.6 million to be stretched over the next six years, which averages nearly $1.3 million a year.
The money is not nearly enough to meet current needs, according to supervisors.
Board members Dale Wheeler and Annie Pollard voted against the plan. Wheeler said he refused “to be a rubber stamp” and the county should use transportation funds only for maintenance during this economic crisis.
“That, in my opinion, should be the priority until the good times return,” Wheeler said.
In the past year, funding for the county’s secondary roads has dropped by 64 percent due to state shortfalls. There is no funding set aside for unpaved roads over the next six fiscal years.
Residents have been asking county officials for years to pave their roads, which led supervisors to develop a priority list of nearly 50 unpaved roads to add to the transportation plan.
Now that list appears to be at a complete standstill.
Supervisor Steve Arrington, whose District 5 encompasses a large number of unpaved roads in the county’s northeast portion, said it bothers him that there isn’t money for repairs.
He said the plan seems “futile at best” but the board’s rejection of it could possibly hurt the county even further.
“Sometimes we’re forced to choose between good and bad or bad and worse,” said Arrington. “If we vote no, we probably vote no at our own peril.”
“We better take what we can get and hope for better days,” said Vice Chairman Roger Cheek.
Chairman John Sharp said the board had to adjust some of the priorities within the plan so bridges in need of repair could receive necessary funding.
“We’re all frustrated,” Sharp said.
All seven supervisors have signed a letter to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine expressing concerns over the lack of transportation funding. The majority of the board also plans to attend a public hearing hosted by state transportation officials June 3 in Roanoke to protest the cutbacks.
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