VTCA Completes Another Successful Season of District Dialogues

by Kevin McGhee, VTCA Engineer & Associates Program Manager

VTCA marked the end of another successful “dialogue season” on November 6 in Newport News.  By the end of the year, we had hosted nearly 1,100 participants at a total of 5 Dialogues covering 7 of VDOT’s 9 Districts. 

The season started on April 1st at the Virginian in Lynchburg.  Eddie Gupton, Rockydale Quarries and VTCA’s Secretary-Treasurer, stood in for Gordon to serve as master of ceremonies for the combined Lynchburg/Salem District Dialogue.  Lynchburg District Engineer, Christopher Winstead, and Salem District Engineer, Ken King, discussed district priorities and their strategic outlook. Dave Convington, Director of the I-81 Corridor Program, updated plans for Tranche 2 Funding for I-81, and Gerry Harter, Lynchburg District Operations Director, provided a technology update on truck-mounted attenuators.  A full house (again), just over 200 folks joined us for the afternoon sessions and post-dialogue reception.

Dialogue number two was back in Richmond on May 13. The Richmond event returned to the Virginia Crossings again this year with District Engineer Dale Totten, PE hosting the program. The early afternoon session included highlights from the I-95 Bridge Bundling projects, a discussion led by Eric Thornton from the District and Jake Leffler of Kokosing.  Chet Parson, Central Virginia Transportation Authority, returned to provide a regional progress report to open the late afternoon session. As has become regular practice nowadays, the formal program concluded with a quick legislative report from Gordon, and then industry updates featuring leadership from VTCA’s primary member sectors – Contractors, Engineers, and Aggregate Producers. 

Our first fall dialogue was in NOVA on September 23 at the Hilton Washington Dulles Airport. Gordon and NOVA District Engineer Bill Cuttler kicked things off for this first of three fall Dialogues. Bill was joined with local updates from Mary Ankers, Prince William County, and Martha Coello from Fairfax.  Vanessa Aguayo, Fairfax County, and Mark Van Zandt, VDOT, partnered to present the Richmond Highway Bus Rapid Transit Plan. As the first morning program of the season, attendees finished the event at themed lunch roundtables with VDOT and industry professionals.

The Culpeper/Fredericksburg Districts moved their event to the fall this year and returned to the DoubleTree in Charlottesville for an October 29 Dialogue. Culpeper District Engineer Sean Nelson and new Fredericksburg District Engineer Greg Henion co-hosted the program.  Michael Coffey, District Construction Engineer, presented the Lick Run Bridge Replacement (Route 3) to showcase a recent Fredericksburg project.  Peter Brennan, VDOT, and Eric Sender, Wallace Montgomery, provided the Culpeper showcase featuring the “Albemarle Bundle Innovation” projects.  The afternoon reception was especially well-attended with many attendees commenting positively about the program, venue, and networking opportunities. Many took the opportunity to connect over dinner following the reception.

We wrapped up the season at the Marriott Newport News City Center with the Hampton Roads Dialogue. Mike Davis, a familiar face in a new role as District Engineer, served as this year’s host.  Bradley Weidenhammer, also VDOT, assisted Mike with an update on the HRBT Expansion Project. Francis Moll, Bryan Stilley, and Jake Lewis from Norfolk, Newport News, and Chesapeake, respectively, presented highlights from each of the local transportation programs. Greg Brown, VDOT ACE for Local Programs, then led a panel discussion that elicited some illuminating (and often very colorful) insights from the local representatives.

Plans are already underway for the Spring 2026 Dialogues, which are expected to engage leadership from Bristol, Salem, Lynchburg, and Richmond Districts.  The afternoon format followed by a reception has been very popular, as has the dialed-back PowerPoint with more locality involvement.  Nonetheless, we are always looking for ideas to keep things fresh while returning the best return on investment for our participants.  If you have ideas, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Kevin McGhee, Gordon Dixon, or almost anyone on the VTCA Staff.

Happy Holidays, and we look forward to seeing you at our dialogues in 2026!