Something I have discovered to be a part of life here in rural Virginia is the frequent presence of wildlife on roads in essentially all of our coverage area here at Farmville Newsmedia, which includes Buckingham, Cumberland, Prince Edward, Charlotte and Lunenburg counties.

There have been multiple times I’ve had to swerve to miss a deer and I once clipped one. I doubled back to see if it was in the roadway, but there was not sign of it, so I’m hoping it was OK.

Because of these dangers, a discussion in the most recent Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors’ meeting resonated with me. Several supervisors, led by Lockett District Robert M. “Bobby” Jones, addressed the quality of work done by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) that could actually make roadways in the area more hazardous for drivers.

“It is really ridiculous how bad of a job they’ve done this year at clipping the rural roads,” he said. “… It really is becoming dangerous.”

Hampden District Supervisor Dr. Odessa Pride said, “I agree with Bobby. The roads are in horrible shape, and then the deer — you can’t even see them until you get up on them. It’s terrible.”

Jones, who recommended the VDOT higher-ups patrol the rural roads to see the state of things, noted that VDOT has done well with its response to inclement weather washing out roads. We’ve had plenty of rainy weather, so hopefully that will lead to inspections and better overall road conditions once the weather settles down.

TITUS MOHLER is the sports editor for The Farmville Herald and Farmville Newsmedia, LLC. His email address is Titus.Mohler@FarmvilleHerald.com.