The Virginia Department of Transportation has announced the most significant restructuring of its maintenance operations since 1932. The department will consolidate 335 maintenance facilities into 244 locations by July 2008, aiming to save some $4 million to $6 million per year. Much of the work on secondary roads will be outourced; all work on interstate highways will be outsourced by 2009.
Reports Kelly Hannon at the Free Lance-Star:
VDOT analyzed the administrative workload at each facility, the population it served and highway safety before announcing yesterday’s decisions. Agency officials said they found that current locations don’t necessarily match where maintenance is needed.
“People don’t really realize, most of our VDOT headquarters were built in the 1930s,” said VDOT Commissioner David Ekern. “It makes sound business sense to adjust our facilities to address today’s business needs.”
(As an aside, some legislators are expressing concerns about the restructuring moves. According to the Daily News Record in Harrisonburg, local lawmakers complained that were not kept in the loop as VDOT worked over the past eight months to think through the restructuring plan.
A couple of observations:
First, saving $4 million to $6 million a year is a step in the right direction — VDOT deserves kudos for making the effort — but that’s chump change in a $3.8 billion budget.
Second, what VDOT needs to implement is a system-wide asset management plan. I haven’t pieced together the full story yet, but here are parts that I know:
In 2002 a JLARC report noted, “There is no statewide systematic approach for measuring the conditions of the pavements on the secondary roads, although about 70 percent of Virginia’s lane mileage is on this system. … VDOT currently employs a reactive maintenance approach to addressing problems as they arise, although it is trying to develop and implement a preventive approach, known as asset management.”
As of 2002, VDOT had spent $39 million developing an “Integrated Maintenance Management Program” since 1996, but the system was not then operational. According to a VDOT spokesman, certain aspects of the program were found not to be cost effective. Since then, VDOT has implemented a “Version 1.0” of an Asset Management System, which “has helped VDOT quantify its maintenance needs and equitably distribute maintenance funds to its work units statewide based on needs,” according to a VDOT spokesman. Work is underway on a Version 2.0.
A state-of-the-art system for measuring roadway conditions and prioritizing maintenance work is absolutely essential. It is imperative that VDOT receive the financial support to take its Asset Management System to the next level.
Third, the state needs to accelerate the devolution of maintenance funding and responsibility to Virginia’s fast-growth counties. Not that the counties can do a better maintenance job than VDOT, but they can do a better job of aligning road building/maintenance decisions with land use decisions. (See my latest column, “The Devolution Solution.”)
One thing’s for sure: Today’s news of VDOT’s restructuring plan is only the first step in a long journey.
Update: I have modified portions of the original post to reflect information provided by Anonymous 2:20 in the comments section.
Update: Jim Wamsley has brought to our attention a November 2005 VDOT PowerPoint presentation on the status of the Asset Management System.
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