Accomack Board of Supervisors votes to scale down RT 175 Smart Scale proposal

The Accomack County Board of Supervisors voted to ask the County Administrator to scale down a Smart Scale application involving Rt. 175 or Chincoteague Road.

Planning staff from Accomack County recently joined regional leaders at a Virginia Department of Transportation meeting to review potential transportation projects for the 2026 SMART SCALE Round Seven.

The September 23rd meeting was held at VDOT’s local residency office and included representatives from Northampton County, the Town of Chincoteague, the Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commission, and the Eastern Shore Rail Trail.

The goal was to identify possible project locations, go over scoring criteria, and share lessons from previous SMART SCALE rounds to help localities submit stronger applications.

VDOT staff noted that projects costing between ten and fifteen million dollars are typically the most competitive. By comparison, Accomack’s previous application for Route 175 improvements came in at more than one hundred million dollars—making it far less likely to score well. Officials also said the Route 175 causeway is not listed as a current VTrans mid-term priority and would be considered too costly for its limited impact.

The presentation ranked the region’s most problematic intersections, with top priorities including Route 13 at Broadwater Road in Exmore, Route 13 at Route 176 in Parksley, and Route 13 at Mary N. Smith Road in Accomac.

One project—Route 13 at Daugherty Road in Tasley—has already received more than four million dollars in funding outside the SMART SCALE program.

Engineering firm Kimley-Horn has proposed a smaller-scale Route 175 plan addressing three intersections between Coardtown and Fleming Roads, estimated around thirty million dollars, but staff now recommend focusing on one of the higher-ranked Route 13 safety projects instead.

Members of the Board expressed concerns about the level of traffic on Rt 175 and the possibility of injuries or death if nothing is done to alleviate those conditions.

Supervisor Robert Crockett asked if it was the Local, Regional or State VDOT that would decline the Smart Scale application. Lea Pambid, Assistant County Administrator replied that it would be the state.

Crockett asked for a motion to authorize the County Administrator write a letter to the State strongly expressing the Board’s concerns in hopes that some alternate means of financing the project might be found.