Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Virginia. Dept. of Transportation, Commissioner's Correspondence, Day Files, 1976-1978; 1998-2009; 2012-2019. [cite specific date and accession used], State Records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Accession 38232 transferred from the Virginia Dept. of Transportation, 2001 July 27.

Accession 38242 transferred from the Virginia Dept. of Transportation, 2001 Aug 1.

Accession 40960 transferred from the Virginia Dept. of Transportation, 2003 Dec 1.

Accession 41082 transferred from the Virginia Dept. of Transportation, 2004 Feb 18.

Accession 41235 transferred from the Virginia Dept. of Transportation, 2004 June 7.

Accession 41910 transferred from the Virginia Dept. of Transportation, 2005 May 11.

Accession 42611 transferred from the Virginia Dept. of Transportation, 2006 Apr 3.

Accession 44390 transferred from the Virginia Dept. of Transportaion, 2009 June 22.

Accession 44498 transferred from the Virginia Dept. of Transportation, 2009 Oct 9.

Accession 45444 transferred from the Virginia Dept. of Transportation, 2011 Mar 15.

Accession 50798 transferred from the Virginia Dept. of Transportation, 2013 Mar 26.

Accession 50953 transferred from the Virginia Dept. of Transportation, 2013 July 18.

Accession 51687 transferred from the Virginia Dept. of Transportation, 2015 Nov 19.

Accession 51919 transferred from the Virginia Dept. of Transportation, 2016 Oct 11.

Accession 52118 transferred from the Virginia Dept. of Transportation, 2017 Oct 18.

Accession 52704 transferred from the Virginia Dept. of Transportation, 2019 May 2.

Accession 52798 transferred from the Virginia Dept. of Tranportation, 2019 Aug 16.

Accession 53736 transferred from the Virginia Dept. of Tranportation, 2022 Oct 14.

Historical Information

The Highway Safety Division was created to promote highway safety by an act of the General Assembly passed on April 4, 1968. The same act created the Highway Safety Commission to advise the division, and a coordinating committee to promote cooperation among state agencies in carrying out the highway safety program established by the division. An act passed by the General Assembly on April 10, 1978, abolished the division effective July 1, 1978, and created in its stead the Department of Transportation Safety under the Secretary of Transportation. The purpose of the Department of Transportation Safety was to investigate, evaluate, and promote the safe movement of people and property in the transportation modes of highways, air, water, rail, and mass transit. The duties of the Highway Safety Commission were assumed by the Board of Transportation Safety, and the coordinating committee was replaced by a coordinating supervisor who served under the director of the department. The General Assembly passed an act on April 6, 1983, abolishing the department effective July 1, 1983, assigning its duties to the commissioner of the Division of Motor Vehicles, and creating a division of transportation safety under a deputy commissioner. The Board of Transportation Safety is currently within the Department of Motor Vehicles and advises the Governor, Secretary of Transportation, and the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles on transportation safety matters.

Scope and Content

This series contains the administrative and constituent correspondence of the Commissioner for the Department of Transportation. These records are also called Day Files by the Department and include copies of both incoming and outgoing correspondence. The records consist of letters, memoranda, budgetary items and some reports. Topics include transportation issues such as road maintenance, construction, traffic congestion, safety, snow removal and the purchase of property for right of way. Includes correspondence with constituents; state and federal legislators; state, local and federal agencies; associations, authorities, businesses and organizations; as well Cabinet Secretaries and the Governor's Office.

Topics include transportation issues such as road maintenance and construction, traffic congestion, highway safety, snow removal, infrastructure, certification, claims, transporttion funding, environmental policy, rest areas, and the purchase of property for right of way.

Includes correspondence for the following Transportation Commissioners: John E. Harwood (1976-1978); David R. Gehr (1994-1999); Charles D. Nottingham (1999-2002); Ray Pethtel - interim commissioner (2002); Philip A. Shucet (2002-2005 June); Gregory A. Whirley, Sr. - acting commissioner (2005 July-December); David S. Ekern (2006-2010 Jan); Gregory A. Whirley, Sr. (2010-2013); Charles Kilpatrick (2014-2018); Stephen C. Brich (2018-2022).

Many accessions include indices tha provide date, correspondent name and topic for the correspondence. These records were microfilmed by Dept. of Transportation before being transferred to the Library of Virgina and documents may include assigned numbers reflecting the order for microfilming.

Accession 41235 offers Commissioner Phillip A. Shucet response to letters and e-mails many transferred from the Governor’s office requesting assistance on topics involving transportation issues such as road construction, VDOT purchasing of property for right of way purposes and the impact of traffic congestion on the citizens of Virginia. Request and questions of Secretary of Transportation Whittington Clement are among the correspondence transferred and handled by Commissioner Shucet’s office. Another feature of these records concerns the controversial proposed improvements to Interstate 81 offering much discussion on the impact to wildlife in the Shenandoah Valley. The widening of Interstate 81 was first proposed to relieve the increase truck traffic in the area. The record also reflect citizen concerns about snow removal or the lack of adequate cleaning of the highways after a snow storm. The onslaught of traffic delays and delays due to road improvement construction are well documented in this collection. The inspection of bridges and discussions of ways to bring the cost down for the department is also outlined in the correspondence.

Accession 44390 consists of the "Day Files" of Commissioner David S. Ekern, offering responses to constitutent inquiries. The questions come in the format of faxes, e-mails and written letters and include draft and final copy of the response to constituent requests. Many issues of concern include the usual, road construction, bridge repairs, VDOT’s purchasing of property for right of way purposes and the use of eminent domain by the department. There is information provided in the financial summary update for the Springfield interchange road construction in Northern Virginia. The impact of traffic safety and congestion are of top concerns to the citizens of Virginia and are reflected in these files. The toll cost of the Dulles Greenway road generated citizen inquiry and the allowance of a single occupant (in a hybrid vehicle) access to the popular HOV lanes (that are reserved for multiple occupants) is a topic of much discussion within these correspondence.