The VCD is now accepting applications for any Dirt, Gravel, and Low Volume Roads projects that Venango County municipalities may be considering for funding for the 2025 construction year. The deadline for applications will be October 11, 2024. This year, we will accept up to two (2) Dirt and Gravel Roads applications and one (1) Low Volume Roads application per applicant, equaling three (3) applications in total. The grant application form and instructions can be found on the VCD DGLVR webpage here.

The Venango Dirt Gravel and Low Volume Road Program provides funding for the construction of Best Management Practices (BMPs). The amount of sediment that leaves the road can be reduced by the construction of BMPs. At the same time, the resulting site becomes a road that requires less maintenance for the municipality.

To qualify for funding, sedimentation from the roadway must be affecting a local waterway. The roadway must also be a publicly owned road that is open to the public at least 2 consecutive weeks per year. The project supervisor must also be ESM certified, a free training to make municipalities familiar with the program’s policies and BMPs.

The goal of the program is to fund safe, efficient and environmentally sound maintenance on local public roads. For more information, call Lisette Lane at 814-676-2832 x6 or reach out via email at [email protected].

The Dirt, Gravel & Low Volume Road program is predicated on the concept of “local control." At the district level, this is achieved through the recommendations of the Quality Assurance Board (QAB). The QAB is a four-member “steering committee” that makes recommendations to the district board on project funding and local policies. This four-person body is comprised of a nonvoting chairman appointed by the conservation district directors, and one local representative appointed by each of the following entities: The federal Natural Resource Conservation Service, The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, and the county conservation district. The PFBC or NRCS may appoint members who are not necessarily a PFBC or NRCS employee to the QAB to serve as that agency’s representative. Local conservation agencies such as Trout Unlimited may be a potential source of QAB volunteers. These members assist the district with the establishment of local control and program requirements including but not limited to: fiscal, environmental, and written priorities, training incentives, and site inspections. The QAB’s recommendations are relayed to the conservation district board and action is taken on project approval and spending. The public is welcome to attend QAB meetings. The date, time, and location of these meetings are posted in advance on the district’s website and as a public notice in the local newspaper.

The Venango Dirt, Gravel & Low Volume Road Program QAB held a meeting on December 6, 2023 at 11:00 AM at the Venango Conservation District. The recommendations from this meeting were given to the Venango Conservation District's board of directors on December 14 at their monthly board meeting. The Venango Conservation District board of directors has approved funding for the following projects for the 2023-2024 DGLVR season:

Dirt and Gravel Road Projects
Canal Township – Wood Road - $95,877.00
Oakland Township – Gifford Road - $147,430.96
Pinegrove Township – Hale Road - $197,720.00
Irwin Township – Kerr Road - $80,000.00

Low Volume Road Projects
Irwin Township - Whieldon Road - $23,700.00

​The Venango Conservation District administers the Dirt Gravel and Low Volume Road Program in Venango County.  The program provides funding to municipalities to install Best Management Practices (BMPs) that reduce pollution coming from rural roadways in the county.

Daylighting is a practice that is a part of a vegetation management plan for road maintenance.  Good management of vegetation at roadways can reduce erosion and can save on future maintenance costs.  Daylighting is the process of cutting back trees so the road is exposed to more light.  By utilizing a daylighting practice on rural roadways a municipality may increase sunlight to the roadway, increase visibility for drivers, dry out soggy road surfaces and reduce annual trimming needs.

The Dirt Gravel and Low Volume Road Program’s primary focus is to reduce sediment pollution caused by rural road ways to local water bodies.  To achieve that, a road needs to have adequate drainage where water has an opportunity to exit the roadway and to filter out before it reaches the water body as runoff.  Daylighting can improve drainage function.  By cutting back vegetation, the chances of leaves and debris clogging cross pipes and ditch lines can be reduced.

Soggy roadways can more easily erode if they never dry out and compact.  By cutting vegetation back, sunlight can more easily reach the road bed, helping to dry out areas that tend to retain water.  This practice reduces erosive soil that can pollute local waterways through runoff.

Daylighting is also a practice that can increase safety on a rural roadway.  Cutting vegetation back can increase line of site for drivers.  This practice also reduces the opportunity for vegetation to block road signs and to cause damage utility lines and guard rails.
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The Venango Conservation District recently awarded funding to Irwin Township to perform daylighting practices on their Kerr Road and Byers Road.  These roads are both dirt and gravel surface roads.  The road surfaces tended to stay moist throughout the year, promoting erosion of the road surface.  

The Venango Dirt and Gravel Roads program, administered by the Venango Conservation District, provides education and funding to municipalities to improve dirt and gravel roads in the county.  Trout Unlimited found that sediment from dirt roads can be a major contributor of pollution to streams in Pennsylvania.  As a result the Commonwealth allocates millions of dollars statewide annually to conservation districts for its Dirt and Gravel Roads program. 

Thanks to Ashley Hazlett, the Venango Conservation District Dirt Gravel and Low Volume Roads Technician, this blog entry will showcase a Dirt and Gravel Roads program project in Victory Township.  The Dennison Run Road project spans across 400 feet of a hilly dirt road.  The section in question was consistently having drainage issues and was losing road surface during storm events.

The funding requested for this project was $13.500.00.  This funding helped provide for the addition of three new cross pipes.  Ditches and banks were also stabilized and road fill was added to maintain a proper crown and a safe driving surface.   The estimated value of the project is $18,913.00. 

Victory Township anticipates submitting an application for further Dirt & Gravel Roads program funding to continue drainage and road surface improvements to the upper hill area of the road.