Drainage is a recurring issue for VDOT, said Sean Trapani, administrator for the department’s Saluda Residency, but it’s especially challenging in counties such as Mathews that don’t have a local program to address the problem.

In response to recent complaints by Mathews residents about drainage issues in the county, representatives of the Virginia Department of Transportation sat down with the Gazette-Journal last week to discuss the department’s role in dealing with drainage.

Trapani explained that, while it’s VDOT’s job to keep water off roads to prevent traffic accidents and pavement failure, drainage issues in areas that don’t belong to VDOT aren’t the department’s responsibility. If it were proved that the road caused the problem, he said, VDOT would take responsibility.

Property owners have used ditches to drain water from their land since long before there was a public road system, said Trapani. While some residents ...