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Stormwater Private Streets
James City County allows, under certain conditions, the construction of roads and streets that do not meet the standards necessary for acceptance into the Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT) secondary system. There are often advantages to deviating from VDOT standards when it comes to road layout and geometry, and roadway widths. Greater flexibility in design of the roads supports other County initiatives such as encouraging environmentally sensitive design by reducing impervious cover and allowing pervious pavement surfaces. Flexibility in design also helps facilitate Planned Unit Development and Mixed Use projects.
However, James City County needs to ensure that the private roads are of high quality so that maintenance costs are minimized for the owners, and the driving surfaces are safe and allow for the normal flow of traffic. The County ensures that the roads meet these objectives through a certification program for Private Street Construction. The intent of the program is to ensure that all private streets are designed and constructed in accordance with VDOT standards and specifications but not necessarily the street geometric criteria.
The Administrative Guidelines for this program contain the information required by the County to certify the road construction. The program is administered by the County Engineer and involves the use of a geotechnical engineer to document all aspects of the road construction. The documentation includes ensuring the road design is based on soils present on the site, and then certifying that the materials and construction techniques meet VDOT and approved plan specifications. This certification information must be supplied by the developer prior to release of the performance surety posted for the project.
Contact the County Engineer at 259-1442 for more details on the certification program requirements.