Infrastructure Report Card 2005

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Virginia

Roads

29% of Virginia's major urban roads are congested.
26% of Virginia's major roads are in poor or mediocre condition.
Vehicle travel on Virginia's highways increased 28% from 1990 to 2003. Virginia's population grew 19% between 1990 and 2003.
Driving on roads in need of repair costs Virginia motorists $1.2 billion a year in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs --- $248 per motorist
Congestion in the Richmond area costs commuters $272 per person per year in excess fuel and lost time.
Congestion in the Virginia Beach area costs commuters $501 per person per year in excess fuel and lost time.
Congestion in the Washington, DC metropolitan area costs commuters $1,212 per person per year in excess fuel and lost time.

Bridges

26% of Virginia's bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.

Dam

There are 74 state-determined deficient dams in Virginia.
Virginia has 126 high hazard dams. A high hazard dam is defined as a dam whose failure would cause a loss of life and significant property damage.
The rehabilitation cost for Virginia's most critical dams is estimated at $147.2 million.

Drinking Water

Virginia's drinking water infrastructure need is $2.05 billion over the next 20 years.

Wastewater

Virginia has $3.52 billion in wastewater infrastructure needs.

Solid Waste

Virginia generates 1.49 tons of solid waste per capita.
Virginia recycles 29.1% of the state's solid waste.

Schools

60% of Virginia's schools have at least one inadequate building feature.
58% of Virginia's schools have at least one unsatisfactory environmental condition.

Engineer Anecdotes

"Needed roads and tunnels cannot be built for lack of funds." - civil engineer from Norfolk, VA

"The traffic gets worse every day and with Metro's problems there isn't always an alternative." - a civil engineer from Fairfax, VA

From the Headlines

The obsolete Kings Highway Bridge topped Suffolk's wish list of road projects this year. But the Virginia Department of Transportation budget is so tight that new money wasn't approved to begin designing a new span. The lack of funds nearly cinches the likelihood that the deteriorating structure on Route 125 in north Suffolk will have to be closed before a new one is built. The existing 74-year-old span on Route 125 connects Driver and Chuckatuck across the Nansemond River. It carries up to 3,500 vehicles a day. If VDOT closed the bridge, residents who rely on it would have to add about 20 minutes to their daily commutes by taking other routes. VDOT estimates that it will cost about $4.6 million to design a new crossing and an additional $32.5 million to build it. The state transportation department has just $3 million in previously approved money to begin the design and received no new money from the General Assembly this year to finish the job or build the bridge. Earlier this year, the state approved realigning the Chuckatuck end of the bridge across the Nansemond River about a mile upstream from its current location to link up with Route 10 near Five Mile Road. The existing bridge is in such bad shape that it rates a zero on a state bridge-rating scale that goes up to 100. Trucks, buses and other vehicles weighing more than 10 tons were restricted from using it in recent years. That limit was recently lowered to 5 tons. VDOT officials say heavy trucks run the risk of damaging the bridge beyond repair. In 2000, a truck hauling earth-moving machinery that exceeded the 10-ton weight limit caused a section of roadway to drop. The damage closed the bridge for several months. A recent report said the bridge could use another $450,000 in work. That work won't be done, because VDOT officials have decided to close the span if the cost of any future repairs exceeds $10,000. Daily Press 7/7/04

There aren't many better places to be at 8 o'clock in the morning than on a golf cart. The sun is moving upward. The cooling breeze meets your face. The Chickahominy River flows beneath you. Yes, beneath. This is no golf course. This is the state Route 5 bridge. Golf carts are the mode of travel these days now that the bridge is considered, well, really more of a thrill ride than a bridge. The Barretts Ferry Bridge, officially known as the Judith Stewart Dresser Memorial Bridge, carries state Route 5, unofficially known as the Richmond-to-Williamsburg road, between Charles City County and the Williamsburg/James City County area. Now, though, one section of the 1939 wooden-piling bridge, near the pivoting center section, is sinking. Dangerously. Rapidly. Car travel has been eliminated. The 65-year-old bridge is deteriorating faster than crews can rush to repair it. Bridge restrictions have included lowering the speed limit to 15 mph, then restricting traffic to one lane, then closing the bridge entirely and finally opening it up for walkers and the carts. And a planned new bridge is four years away. But at least there are the golf carts. Richmond Times Dispatch 7/8/04

When Bob Potter makes the trip to his downtown barber shop each morning, he often takes precautions: He unlocks the doors, rolls down the windows and snaps back the seat belt. Just in case. To get to the tiny island from his home, Potter has to cross the only portal to the city, two bridges notorious for their deteriorating condition. When traffic is thick, he sometimes worries that the constant weight will cause one of the bridges to collapse. Sometimes, the 65 -year-old swinging draw bridge gets jammed open for hours, backing up traffic for miles and making it impossible for an ambulance to pass through on its way to a hospital about 45 minutes away on the mainland. Transportation department officials say it could be five or six years before a new, longer bridge is finished. In the meantime, they say the Chincoteague Channel and the Black Narrows bridges are safe enough for the 9,000 cars that cross it daily. The Black Narrows bridge was built in 1940 , three years after the swing bridge. At first glance, the bridges look fine, but VDOT photos show they have holes peeking through the bottom. Some locals say they have seen pieces of cement breaking off the swing bridge. A few say they feel it shake when they cross it. Virginian Pilot 7/26/04

Construction on more than a half-dozen heavily traveled local routes in Northern Virginia has been delayed by suburban governments left with little choice but to put off the projects after state officials significantly reduced money for secondary roads. The cuts in the secondary road funding are part of a more than $1 billion slashing of the state's transportation program. Among the projects delayed by the cuts is the rehabilitation of two crumbling bridges in Arlington County. Washington Post 7/28/04

More than 400 million gallons of raw sewage - and possibly as much as 750 million gallons - spilled into Roanoke's waterways, streets and back yards after recent floodwaters shut down the regional wastewater treatment plant. The spill was enough to fill 1,000 Olympic-size swimming pools or to bury the entire town of Vinton under more than a foot of sewage. The sewage spills are caused by storm water overtaxing the sewage system, tree roots breaking aging pipelines, sporadic blockages, and homes' gutters being incorrectly hooked into the public wastewater system. According to water authority reports, one of the largest spills was at Tinker Creek, where sewage spilled out at an estimated 1,000 gallons a minute. At that rate, as much as 13 million gallons of sewage - which gushed more than 10 feet into the air and left toilet paper hanging in the trees - went into the creek near its junction with the Roanoke River. Roanoke Times 10/23/04

Governor Warner has voiced support for devoting uncommitted portions of an expected $700 million to $900 million surplus to transportation.Former Gov. Gerald L. Baliles, however, said in a speech to the Central Business District Association in Virginia Beach that the entire surplus "would not come close to meeting the transportation needs in any region of Virginia." Northern Virginia's urgent transportation needs alone would surpass $15 billion, he said, and a third bridge-tunnel system to handle worsening congestion in Hampton Roads would cost $4.5 billion. Virginian Pilot 11/17/04

Despite millions of taxpayer dollars spent on improving the public sewer system, nearly 16 million gallons of untreated sewage spilled in Hampton and Newport News in the past two years, according to records collected by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. That's enough untreated sewage to fill about 20 Olympic-size swimming pools. Although public works officials discount a connection between these spills and the high bacteria levels that closed several area beaches the past two summers, the Environmental Protection Agency recently released a report saying more money and government cooperation is needed to combat sewage spills. Hampton signed an agreement with the DEQ and the sanitation district in 2002, promising to inspect sewer lines and come up with a plan to patch leaks and bad connections that allow rainwater and groundwater to leak into the sewage system and overload it. The spillover often comes out of manholes and flows into ditches that carry the diluted household waste into rivers. Despite the agreement, nearly 2.1 million gallons of sewage overflowed in Hampton in 2003 and about 1 million so far this year -- the biggest annual totals in 10 years. Daily Press 11/28/04

Special delivery for Michael J. Ward. The chairman and chief executive officer of CSX Corp. has about 35 pounds of concrete coming at him, courtesy of former Fredericksburg Councilman Joe Wilson and UPS. Wilson lugged the two large chunks of concrete back to his Caroline Street home after they fell off a CSX railroad overpass downtown. He boxed them up and shipped them off last week with a letter urging Ward to repair the railroad bridges that span Charles, Princess Anne, Caroline and Sophia streets before a piece of concrete falls on a pedestrian. This is the second time Wilson has mailed bridge debris to CSX officials. About two years ago, he sent then-CSX Chairman John Snow (now the U.S. treasury secretary) a 15-pound chunk of concrete he found under the Caroline Street bridge. He and other city officials have urged the Jacksonville, Fla., company to repair the deteriorating bridges but haven't had much luck. CSX officials have said that replacing or refurbishing the bridges would cost several million dollars. Associated Press 2/11/05

"I live in Herndon, VA and work in both Gaithersburg, MD and Leesburg, VA. In my daily travels, the most obvious and frustrating of all the infrastructure needs is lack of highway capacity. When I commute home from Gaithersburg, I sit in traffic for a minimum of 1.5 hours every evening on the Washington, DC Beltway. When commuting to Leesburg, I watch the traffic sitting in the opposing lanes. It is not uncommon to see a 4-5 mile backup where the Dulles Greenway exits onto VA Route 7 in the evening. The mass transit system is also not adequate. To get to Gaithersburg from my house, I would have to take 3 buses and a train, and it would take over 2 hours. Mass transit to Leesburg at the moment is impossible, since Farifax buses stay in Fairfax Co., Loudoun buses stay in Loudoun Co., and never the twain shall meet." - a civil engineer from Herndon,VA

Sources

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