Reporting Road Issues to Virginia Department of Transportation

Frustrated with the decaying condition of our roads here in Summers Landing and the incredibly slow response time from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), your Homeowners Association (HOA) Board of Directors (BoD) President, Mr. John Thyen, and HOA BoD Secretary, Mr. Jim Irwin, met with a VDOT supervisor and and his crew chief in late 2021 to address a number of road and erosion issues.

During the one hour meeting, the VDOT Officials were taken to very spot in Summers Landing and shown specific issues to be addressed. At the end of the meeting, the VDOT supervisor was handed a 29-page folder outlining each issue, with photos, and written statements of what we expected VDOT to do to resolve these ongoing issues. Included on our list, were erosion concerns and the dangerous condition of Ashby Drive with its crumbling shoulders.

VDOT has done little to address any of these issues, despite several follow-up phone calls. Based on their lack of action on our 29-page document, it appears VDOT has no interest in erosion issues. The situation with road repairs was a little better, but not by much.

We were told we were on a list to have our roads repaired, but the time for this to be done has not yet been determined. Your HOA has had some success using the VDOT website for reporting road issues. It may be more effective if each of us reported repair issues near our addresses and elsewhere using the website. Maybe hearing from a lot of homeowners rather than the same people all the time, will make a stronger impression on VDOT. The VDOT website is my.vdot.virginia.gov.

For pothole repairs, you need to know the closest street address and intersection. In cases where the pot hole is between two addresses, be sure to provide both addresses. For more complex repairs, you'll need to provide a more detailed description of the problem. The website allows for the posting of photos, so please be sure to take a photo or two and upload it with your report.

Once you make your report, you'll be given a reference number. Be sure to save that reference number because you'll need when you follow-up to see what VDOT did to address your complaint.