Dirt, Gravel + Low Volume Roads

We help improve roadways and protect streams.

This program provides competitive funding to improve sections of unpaved and low-traffic roads, making them more passable for drivers and less prone to erode and create sediment in the streams that run nearby. 

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The Westmoreland Conservation District administers the Dirt, Gravel, & Low Volume Roads Program (DGLVR) in Westmoreland County. This statewide conservation program was established in 1997 stemming from an initiative by conservation groups such as Trout Unlimited. The program provides funding to municipalities and other entities to reduce sediment pollution to streams while improving the quality of low-volume (low-traffic) unpaved public roads.

The program directs funding to “worksites” where road runoff is affecting water quality. This program funds Environmentally Sensitive Maintenance Practices (ESM) designed to reduce sediment pollution, encourage infiltration and reduce long-term maintenance costs on public roads.

The Dirt, Gravel and Low Volume Roads program provides education and outreach along with technical assistance for improving private roads, lanes, and driveways.

The Westmoreland Conservation District regularly hosts a public workshop program to help owners of farm lanes, gravel driveways, and private roads reduce erosion and maintenance costs. As part of this program our staff may visit attendees’ sites and recommend the most appropriate conservation measures.

Please contact us for more information and to find out when the next workshop is scheduled.

In November 2013, the PA Transportation Funding Bill (Act 89 of 2013), made significant changes to Pennsylvania’s Dirt and Gravel Road Program.

Some of the biggest changes were a significant increase in funds for the program (from $4 million to $20 million annually), and a broadening of the program’s scope so that it also includes low-volume, paved public roads.

An additional $8 million was set aside for work on these paved or tar and chipped roads that have average daily traffic of fewer than 500 vehicles per day. Road owning entities must verify traffic counts according to the SCC policy.

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Paved roads have been added because they likewise can present environmental challenges when they function as drainage collectors that carry stormwater, sediment, and other pollutants into our waterways. Many of the existing practices for unpaved roads apply to paved roads as well.

Therefore, this aspect of the program is NOT intended to simply pave or re-pave roads. Although, paving costs may be an eligible expense as part of a larger road and environmental improvement project.

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