Last year, when the Warren County Board of Supervisors held its annual hearing on the Secondary Six-Year Plan through the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), I made what was probably one of the more unusual public comments of the evening.

I criticized the fonts.

Not the funding formulas.
Not the allocations.
Not the engineering.

The fonts.

Specifically, the slanted and decorative typography is used throughout the official transportation documents. When questioned, I jokingly referred to them as “chicken scratch.” It was a small and admittedly petty criticism, but one rooted in something larger: professionalism, civic presentation, and the idea that public-facing government documents should communicate clarity and seriousness.

This year, when I arrived at the May 19, 2026 meeting, I had honestly forgotten I had even spoken on the issue the year before. The Deputy Clerk to the Board of Supervisors reminded me before the hearing began, and when my turn came to speak, I opened with a lighthearted acknowledgment, and complimented the board:

“So, Kudos on no chicken scratch this time on the documents.”

Thankfully, the documents looked much cleaner this time around.

Oddly enough, that small callback became the perfect transition into a much larger concern that has been increasingly on my mind: many of Warren County’s rural roads are now serving traffic patterns they were never originally designed to handle.

Roads Built for Yesterday

Reading through the proposed Secondary Six-Year Plan, one thing became immediately apparent. Much of the county’s transportation planning remains focused on maintaining and gradually improving rural secondary roads through relatively modest projects: drainage work, rural rustic improvements, unpaved road funding, signage, and long-term maintenance priorities.

These are not flashy projects. Most people will never notice them unless something goes wrong.

But these roads quietly shape everyday life in Warren County.

Many of them were originally designed for local residents, agricultural use, and predictable traffic patterns. Today, they increasingly support a very different reality:

• residential growth,
• tourism,
• delivery traffic,
• GPS-routed travelers,
• and short-term rentals extending farther into rural parts of the county.

That changes the character of the roads themselves.

A narrow gravel road that local residents have navigated safely for decades becomes a very different experience for a visitor unfamiliar with steep grades, blind curves, soft shoulders, flooding concerns, or winter weather conditions.

In many areas of Warren County, the issue is not necessarily heavy congestion in the suburban sense. It is maneuverability, visibility, drainage, and reliability under changing usage conditions.

The Infrastructure People Rarely Notice

One thing I have come to appreciate from attending local government meetings is how often the most important infrastructure discussions sound painfully mundane.

Drainage.
Shoulders.
Sight distance.
Runoff.
Ditches.
Road edge deterioration.

None of these topics generate much excitement. Yet they become critically important the moment a road floods, a shoulder collapses, emergency vehicles struggle to access a property, or unfamiliar drivers encounter dangerous conditions during rain or snow.

Rural infrastructure failures usually reveal themselves slowly at first, then all at once.

That is part of why long-term transportation planning matters even when the projects themselves seem small.

Planning Before Crisis

The Secondary Six-Year Plan is, in many ways, an exercise in patience. It is about positioning the county for future state and federal transportation funding opportunities long before emergencies force immediate action.

The plan discussed this year covered Fiscal Years 2027 through 2032. Some projects may not see completion for years. Others may evolve, shift, or compete for limited funding.

But proactive planning is always less expensive than reactive planning.

Roads rarely fail overnight. Problems accumulate gradually:

• changing traffic patterns,
• deferred maintenance,
• weather damage,
• population shifts,
• and increased roadway demand.

By the time infrastructure becomes impossible to ignore, the costs are often much higher than they would have been years earlier.

Civic Pride in the Small Details

Oddly enough, I still think the font discussion mattered.

Not because typography is more important than transportation funding, but because presentation reflects care. Communities communicate their values not only through major projects and speeches, but through the attention they give to the details.

Clear documents.
Readable plans.
Well-maintained roads.
Thoughtful long-term planning.

These things shape how residents experience local government, whether they consciously realize it or not.

Last year, I criticized the “chicken scratch” fonts because they felt careless and distracting in official public documents. This year, the presentation was cleaner, more professional, and easier to read. It was a small improvement, but it quietly reflected something larger: responsiveness and attention.

That same philosophy applies to infrastructure itself.

Most people only notice roads when something is broken. But roads quietly determine how safely and comfortably a community functions every single day.

And increasingly, many of Warren County’s rural roads are carrying a county that looks very different from the one they were originally built to serve.

Transcript (auto-generated)

A Reminder From Last Year

Good evening. My name is Lewis Moten from the North River District. I forgot I spoke on this last year, and I was reminded when I came in.

No More “Chicken Scratch” Fonts (May 20, 2025)

My only comment is the fonts. It’s It’s petty, but you know, get do something about the fonts. The the silliness of the font is just very weird. Thank you.

Rural Roads Facing New Demands

So, kudos on no chicken scratch this time on the documents. A very short presentation. I thought there was going to be more than what was already provided to us, other than the cover page. I appreciate the work that everybody’s done on this. My concern is we’re seeing a increase in residential growth, tourism, delivery traffic, and short-term rentals. So the the the traffic patterns have changed over time.

I believe that continued emphasis on road safety, drainage, visibility, shoulders, signage, and maneuverability is increasingly important. I appreciate this planning process helps position us for the future for state and federal transportation funding opportunities. So, thank you.

Supervisor Cheryl Cullers: Thank you.