Public Works at a Glance

Welcome to our interactive page! Scroll down to find information on some of our projects and services.

Helpful Hints

Use the magnifying glass in the upper left corner of the map to type in an address and see where it is in relation to other information displayed on the map.

You may need to zoom in and out, using the "+" and "-" buttons found at the bottom right of the map, to see which Zone you are in.

Hitting the button on the lower left of the map will display the Legend.

2024 Paving Status

Paving Plan 2024

Public Works Major Projects

The map below shows major projects Public Works is currently managing or plans to begin in the near future.

Public Works Major Projects

Leaf Collection

Leaf Collection (LC) Zones

Our yearly leaf collection effort helps improve driver safety by removing leaves from the street, which could inhibit driver visibility or lead to slick spots on the road. Additionally, removing leaves from the street helps keep leaves from clogging our storm drains, which is important because a clogged storm drain can cause water to pool on the street. Leaf collection also helps lessen the risk of people slipping and falling on wet leaves covering the sidewalk.

The City of Waynesboro has 9 leaf collection zones it uses to track the progress of yearly leaf collection along City streets.

During leaf collection season, generally late November and into December, Public Works will post updates on our webpage and Facebook page to let you know where we are currently collecting and where we are going next.

You can help us keep the streets and sidewalks clear of leaves by raking leaves to the back of the curb during leaf collection; please don't rake leaves into the street or pile on the sidewalk.

Please remove sticks and brush from your leaf pile prior to collection. These items can damage our machinery.

Trash Collection

Trash Collection Zones

We attempt to provide the best possible service when it comes to trash collection, as we know you have things to get rid of, and we want to help you dispose of them properly.

Please help us keep the City beautiful, and our crews safe, by placing all trash in a trash bag and placing inside the trash can. Trash that is not in a bag can potentially injure our people when they try to place items in the trash truck.

The City collects refuse Monday through Thursday during regular collection weeks.

When there is a holiday during the week, Public Works will collect on an alternate schedule. Please watch for updates to collection schedules on our webpage and Facebook page to ensure your trash gets collected.

If you need brush or large furniture picked up, please visit our webpage to schedule.

Snow Removal

Snow Plow

Primary Roads and Weather Clearance Zones

Life here in the Valley against the Blue Ridge Mountains is generally very pleasant, but in winter we usually get several days of snow which cover our roads. When it looks like it is going to snow, we will pretreat the roads to help the snow from sticking. Pretreating is often enough to keep our roads clear and safe, but when there are heavy snows, we need to plow.

When we plow the roads, we start with the Primary roads first (such as Main St.) and then move to Secondary roads (roads that connect the Primaries and provide access to neighborhoods).

Our main priority during snow removal is to ensure emergency vehicles are able to quickly move throughout the City. If an emergency vehicle needs to travel a road that hasn't been plowed yet, we will automatically move to clear that road even if it means we need to stop clearing another road. This is why you will sometimes see a single street plowed in a neighborhood before the entire neighborhood starts getting cleared.

Public Works has established a zone system to track the progress of snow removal during and after a snow event. The zones are illustrated on the map above (e.g., the Green portion is Zone C), and you can keep track of which zone(s) we are working in, and where we are going next during snow removal by checking our webpage and Facebook page.

Public Works maintains a Snow Removal Status dashboard during snow events that shows the current status of snow removal efforts. This dashboard is shown below. Click on the ARROW button in the top right of the image to go to a full screen version of the dashboard.

Snow Removal Status Dashboard

Streets

City Streets

While the City of Waynesboro is approximately 15 square miles in size, we maintain more than 120 miles of streets within the City limits.

Since traveling on a City street is necessary for the majority of people who live, work, and visit the City, we try to keep the streets in the best shape possible. This means we are continually assessing the condition of our streets. This assessment informs our recommendations for the annual paving plan, which outlines which roads will be prioritized for work.

Summer is the primary season for road work, and this is when the majority of paving and microsurfacing of our roads occurs. Expect more road closures during the warmer months due to work.

Patching of roads occurs as needed throughout the year to repair roads after utility work, such as when the road needs to be dug up to repair a water line break.

We will attempt to notify the public of planned work, so you can make adjustments to your travel route if necessary. Unfortuantly, you may not receive advanced notice for emergency road work.

Please drive carefully around Work Zones.

Drinking Water

Water Treatment Plant

Water Lines

The City of Waynesboro produces an average of 2.5 million gallons of drinking water per day; that is more than 100 gallons a day per person living in Waynesboro.

After the water is drawn from the source (Our drinking water comes from groundwater, not surface water such as the South River), it travels to the Water Treatment Plant where it is treated to remove unwanted items before being sent out to the City for use.

An ounce of drinking water may travel many miles from the Water Treatment Plant before it ends up at your faucet. In fact, the City maintains more than 160 miles of water line.

Wastewater

Wastewater Treatment Plant

Sewer Lines

When you flush your toilet or pour water down the drain, this "wastewater or sewer" travels through a series of pipes on its way to the Wastewater Treatment Plant.

There are over 130 miles of sewer pipe that transport wastewater to the Wastewater Treatment Plant, where more than 1.5 million gallons a day of wastewater is treated.

Once the wastewater reaches the Wastewater Treatment Plant, it is separated into two different components: Water and solids.

Most wastewater is actually water, but there are some "solids" in the wastewater. During the treatment process at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, the water and solids are separated and each are treated a little differently.

Water portion of Wastewater: The water portion of wastewater is released into the South River after it has been treated. As part of the treatment process, nitrogen and phosphorus are removed from the water so they cannot serve as food for algae once the treated water is discharged into the river. Excess amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus in the water can lead to algae blooms which are detrimental to aquatic life as the dissolved oxygen the fish "breathe" is used up by microorganisms as they consume the algae.

The final step in the water treatment process before reaching the South River is Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection.

Solids: When the solids are separated from the liquid, they form a "sludge". This sludge is treated with heat for a specific period of time to remove harmful elements. We refer to this part of the treatment process as "Digestion". After the sludge has been treated in the Digester, it becomes "Biosolids". Biosolids are deemed safe enough to be used as fertilizer.

Stormwater

Flooding on a City Street

The City operates a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) in an effort to control flooding and treat stormwater (water produced during a rain event) before it enters the South River and its tributaries.

As part of this effort, the City maintains more than 80 miles of storm sewer line to help safely transport water from rain events. We also maintain numerous Best Management Practices (BMPS), such as stormwater ponds and constructed wetlands, that help prevent flooding and also help treat the stormwater.

Water that enters the storm sewer does not go to the Wastewater Treatment Plant for treatment prior to entering our waterways.

Please help us keep our waterways clean by keeping trash, leaves, and other debris out storm drains. Never pour oil, paint, or other substances down the storm drain.

Stormwater Lines and BMPs

Constructed Wetland BMP

The BMPS, such as stormwater ponds you see around the City, can serve two primary purposes:

First, they can help control flooding by holding excess stormwater during a heavy rain event. When stormwater reaches a stormwater pond it is held until it can be released at a controlled rate so that flooding does not occur downstream. Think of this like when you open your drain on your bathtub. A large amount of water is held in the tub, but the drain only allows a small amount of water to go down into the pipes at one time. This allows you to safely drain your tub without overwhelming your plumbing system.

Second, BMPs, such as constructed wetlands, can remove unwanted items from the water. As stormwater sits in the wetland, sediment settles to the bottom allowing clear water to be released downstream. Additionally, as water sits in the BMP, nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are captured by grasses and plants so they cannot continue to flow downstream. This is important because capturing nutrients in the BMP helps prevent algae blooms downstream which can adversely affect the health of waterways.

Thank you for visiting our interactive page; we hope it is useful and insightful.

Snow Plow

Water Treatment Plant

Wastewater Treatment Plant

Flooding on a City Street

Constructed Wetland BMP