Transportation

Department of Transportation; rest areas and welcome centers; adult changing stations. Requires the Department of Transportation to provide at least one adult changing station at all rest areas on interstate highways and welcome centers operated by the Virginia Tourism Authority in the Commonwealth, with such changing station being either (i) in a single-stall family restroom or (ii) one adult changing station in both the men's and women's restrooms, and provides that such requirement may be satisfied by retrofitting or renovating existing restroom facilities or family restrooms. The bill provides that the Department of Transportation is not required to complete the installation, retrofitting, or provision of such an adult changing station at existing rest areas and welcome centers prior to such a time at which other renovations to such a rest area or welcome center are conducted.

School access corridors; snow and ice removal; Planning District 8. Requires the Commissioner of Highways, when providing snow and ice removal services in Planning District 8, to prioritize the removal of snow and ice from certain state-maintained sidewalks and crosswalks defined in the bill as school access corridors.

State Trails Office; Statewide Trails Plan; Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail. Directs the State Trails Office within the Department of Transportation to include the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail in the Statewide Trails Plan.

Unpaved secondary highway funds; maximum annual allocation. Increases the maximum total annual allocation made by the Commonwealth Transportation Board for certain unpaved secondary highways from $25 million to $50 million.

Department of Transportation; guardrail modernization; report. Requires the Department of Transportation (the Department) to identify, prioritize, and conduct the replacement of guardrail systems and end treatments that do not meet current Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) safety standards. The bill requires the Department to (i) identify and use any state or federal funds available to the Department for such purposes and, as necessary, apply for other grant funds; (ii) create and maintain a public inventory of non-compliant guardrail systems and end treatments; (iii) create a five-year upgrade schedule for the replacement of non-compliant guardrail systems and end treatments; and (iv) submit an annual report to the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees on Transportation.

Department of Transportation; protective caps for guardrail posts; report. Directs the Department of Transportation to develop and adopt statewide standards and requirements for protective caps or other comparable shielding for exposed guardrail posts installed or replaced on or after July 1, 2027.