Silly of me to think that? Not so. Anybody who has been keeping up with changes at VDOT knows that cul de sacs have become an endangered species in Virginia. And, to be honest, it is good planning to do so. Read some of the material for yourself because it may affect how future developments are done around Chrisitiansburg.

VDOT Projects and Studies: Secondary Street Acceptance Chapter 382

Virginia Bicycling Federation: Virginia Bans Cul de Sacs

Washington Post: In VA., Vision of Suburbia at a Crossroads

Planetizen: Virginia Bans the Cul-De-Sac in New Subdivisions

autoblog: Whither Suburbia? Virginia all but outlaws cul-de-sac construction in face of traffic costs

Greater Greater Washington: Virginia’s new street connectivity regulations: the specifics

There is a lot more information out there. To find it simply do a google search using: virginia law new cul de sac.

Hope that get’s you through coffee and a danish this morning.

While I had planned on scanning copies of those maps, I found something a bit more useful. The United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service has a little old website that provides more and newer information than can be found in that old 1985 document.

The particular site section is the Web Soil Survey. I am not going to lie to you and tell you it is a piece of cake to use. However, with a little bit of effort you can find out some pretty amazing things about what should or shouldn’t be built where based upon type of soil, slope, tendency for concrete to degrade due to chemical nature of soil, and a whole lot of other things.

The whole site is very visual and interactive so anticipate spending a good deal of time waiting for maps to load up.

Once your on the main page, you will find directions for use that explain how to use this tool. (By the way the ‘shopping cart’ is merely a holding place, this is a tool free to the public. Maps that you want to obtain are provided in pdf format that prints out quite well or can be published to a website easily (hmmmm…..wonder where that idea’s going:)

What I found was pretty scary. It shows how very important it is to evaluate each area on it’s own merits and how a generic stormwater system is doomed for failure. Don’t get the idea that what you will find is saying ‘don’t build’ in certain locations. It is simply identifying those areas where special attention MUST be paid to manage potential hazards such as stormwater runoff.

Overall, it clearly shows the importance of soil testing by Town Engineering staff, making sure that plans submitted take these different soil types and slopes into consideration, and that thorough  monitoring is performed by the Town.

It may be the developers responsibility to design and build, but it is the Town’s responsibility to make sure that things are done correctly (not necessarily minimum requirements) and that the safety and well-being of its citizens are the focus of deliberations and decisions.

Let me know if you have photos you would like to include.

My compliments to the front line workers who tried to keep damage to a minimum. They displayed a high level of competence, customer service, and professionalism. Of course, they can only do what they are allowed to do.

Since there are so few (if any) places in Town any more where construction would not impact neighboring communities, isn’t it time for the Town to come up with some for of noise ordinance for this situation. A noise ordinance does not have to be so specific as to be too cumbersome. It could simply be related to construction noise not impinging on the regular family and sleep hours that most people try to enjoy.

For a full review of the history and some of the current applications of noise ordinances, check out ….yes…that favorite resource of mine: Wikipedia – Noise Regulation. A simple noise ordinance like this could make life better for those who have to live through the noise around them and for public officials who will be held accountable after the fact when something like this slips through the cracks.

By Carol Lindstrom On February 8 at 1:00 PM