As a bike advocate your relationship with your local VDOT District Office is important. So it’s important to know which VDOT district you’re in. VDOT’s Districts page has a map showing the districts and their counties, plus contact information for all VDOT District Offices. Here’s our own listing of VDOT districts and their counties:

• Bristol District: Bland, Buchanan, Dickenson, Grayson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise and Wythe counties
• Salem District: Bedford, Botetourt, Carroll, Craig, Floyd, Franklin, Giles, Henry, Montgomery, Patrick, Pulaski and Roanoke counties
• Lynchburg District: Amherst, Appomattox, Buckingham, Campbell, Charlotte, Cumberland, Halifax, Nelson, Pittsylvania and Prince Edward counties
• Richmond District: Amelia, Brunswick, Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico*, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, New Kent, Nottoway, Powhatan and Prince George counties
• Hampton Roads District: Accomack, Greensville, Isle of Wight, James City, Northampton, Southampton, Surry, Sussex and York counties and the cities of Chesapeake, Emporia, Franklin, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach and Williamsburg counties
• Fredericksburg District: Caroline, Essex, Gloucester, King and Queen, King George, King William, Lancaster, Mathews, Middlesex, Northumberland, Richmond, Spotsylvania, Stafford and Westmoreland counties
• Culpeper District: Albermarle, Culpeper, Fauquier, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock counties
• Staunton District: Alleghany, Augusta, Bath, Clarke, Frederick, Highland, Page, Rockbridge, Rockingham, Shenandoah and Warren counties
• Northern Virginia District: Arlington*, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties

*Henrico and Arlington counties maintain their own roads.

After many years where it was common knowledge through the halls of the State Legislature that “any bill restricting dogs that comes down here will soon be dead on arrival“, the highly publicized tragic death of the Fredericksburg woman and her pet dog after being mauled by a neighbor’s pit bull a couple of years ago has changed all that.That incident, more than anything, led to the passage of the bill, effective on July 1, 2006 which established a “Dangerous Dog Registry” and actually went quite a bit further. Rather than publish the bill in its entirety here, I urge all of you to go to the www.vdacs.virginia.gov website and print a copy of the three page bill for yourself, while I will briefly summarize it and give a few suggestions here. [continue reading…]

Bike advocates statewide should attend VCN’s Legislative Workshop, to help plan for the upcoming legislative session in January. This workshop will be held Saturday morning, December 1, 8:30am-12:30pm, in House Room 3 of the Capitol Building in Richmond. Cost is only $10, which includes a continental breakfast. Click here for more information.

The Central Virginia Mountain Bike Association is hosting the IMBA Trail Care Crew in Lynchburg, VA. The main presentation and trail work session will be on Saturday, Dec 2nd.

Remember — the better attendance we have, the more visits our state will get.

Click here to sign up.

Contact Matt Lepico if you have questions.

IMBA is still accepting requests for 2008 TCC visits.