Give input on transportation projects at Dec. 15 meeting in Culpeper

Central Virginia residents are invited to participate in a public meeting on transportation project funding on Thursday, Dec. 15. The meeting will be held at the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Culpeper District office, 1601 Orange Road, Culpeper, at 4 p.m.

The meeting will begin with a brief open house, during which attendees can review and provide feedback on the list of proposed local and regional projects submitted for scoring through the SMART SCALE prioritization process.

Shortly after 4 p.m., a town hall session will engage public and transportation stakeholders in discussion and provide an opportunity to ask questions about the projects. There will be no formal public comment period.

Signed into law by Gov. Terry McAuliffe, SMART SCALE is an objective, data-driven prioritization process to score projects according to critical transportation needs. The process was formerly called House Bill 2 or HB2.

The Dec. 15 meeting will highlight 35 project applications received in the nine-county Culpeper District, which request $319.6 million in funding through SMART SCALE. Statewide, there were 436 applications submitted by 148 local governments and regional planning bodies, totaling $9.25 billion. A map view of candidate projects is available here.

The applicant projects are currently being screened and scored. The scores will be released to the public in January and will provide a helpful tool for the Commonwealth Transportation Board when making funding decisions next June.

If unable to attend the meeting, you may view the displays and provide your comments online. You may also mail comments to:

Highway projects: Infrastructure Investment Director VDOT 1401 E. Broad Street Richmond, Virginia 23219 [email protected].gov

Rail, public transportation and transportation demand management: Public Information Officer Department of Rail and Public Transportation 600 E. Main Street, Suite 2102 Richmond, Virginia 23219[email protected]

Comments will be accepted through Dec. 22.

Resources

• Information on SMART SCALE: vasmartscale.org/resources/default.asp
• Public meeting handouts and other information:
  www.virginiadot.org/projects/syip/meeting_materials.asp