Virginia Code Title 33.2. Highways and Other Surface Transportation Systems § 33.2-208. Location of routes

A. The Board shall have the power and duty to locate and establish the routes to be followed by the highways comprising the systems of state highways between the points designated in the establishment of such systems, except that such routes shall not include highways or streets located within any local system of highways or streets, within the urban highway system, or those local highways in any county that has resumed full responsibility for all of the secondary state highway system within such county's boundaries pursuant to § 33.2-342. Such routes to be located and established shall include corridors of statewide significance pursuant to § 33.2-353.

B. The Board shall not locate and establish any route pursuant to this section until the Department has (i) published in a newspaper that is published or has a general circulation in the locality in which the route is to be located and established a notice of its willingness to hold a public hearing on the matter, (ii) notified the governing body of the locality in which the route is to be located of its willingness to hold a public hearing on the matter, and (iii) held a public hearing if one has been requested.

If a public hearing is requested, written notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be given not less than 30 days prior to the hearing to the governing body of the locality in which the route is to be located and established. Not less than 30 days prior to the hearing, a notice of the time and place of the hearing shall also be published by the Department at least once in a newspaper published or having a general circulation in the locality in which the route is to be located and established.

All public hearings on the location or possible location of a route shall be open forums that afford citizens opportunities to obtain route location information and other pertinent information on a proposed project and to submit their hearing comments in writing or to present them directly to a verbatim recorder. In addition, upon the written request of a member of the governing body of the locality in which the route is proposed to be located, or upon the written request of 25 citizens, these public hearings shall afford citizens an opportunity to present their comments to representatives of the Department directly, one speaker at a time, in a public forum following a traditional hearing format. A written request for a traditional hearing must be received within 14 days following the first published notice of the hearing or willingness to hold a hearing.

Following the public hearing, if one is held as provided in this section, the Department shall notify the governing body of the affected locality of the Board's decision regarding the location and establishment of the route.