The Dirt, Gravel, and Low Volume Road Program is administered at the county level through county conservation districts. Each county establishes its own criteria for selecting projects to fund based on local priorities. Participating public road owners work directly with local administrators to identify problem sites, diagnose solutions, develop a practical plan, and implement the plan through project completion. The PA State Conservation Commission establishes policies and provides guidance, but the effective implementation of the DGLVR Program occurs at the local level.

Thousands of DGLVR Projects have been completed since the start of the Program in 1997 and can be found in 65 of PA’s 67 counties. In 2013, when State funding was increased to the current level, the Dirt and Gravel Road Program became the Dirt, Gravel, and Low Volume Road Program and began funding road improvement projects on paved and chip-sealed roads with traffic volumes of 500 vehicles per day or less.   This change in the law, along with the corresponding funding increase, has opened up more opportunities for municipalities and other local road owning entities to address more problem sites with a DGLVR grant.

The goal of the DGLVR Program is to fund safe, efficient, and environmentally sound maintenance on PA’s local public roads through common-sense maintenance practices. These same practices result in road improvements that reduce long term maintenance needs and costs. Over two decades of success is proof of this winning approach to road maintenance. While the program is administered by the State Conservation Commission, research, training, and technical assistance is provided by the Center for Dirt and Gravel Road Studies at the Pennsylvania State University.

Unpaved dirt and gravel roads were the original focus of the program, with run-off sediment pollution becoming a concern in the mid 1990's after Trout Unlimited volunteers demonstrated the impacts noticed in forested areas after light rains. Section 9106 of PA motor vehicle code established the Dirt and Gravel Road Program; originally passed in 1997 and amended in 2013 to become the Dirt, Gravel, and Low Volume Road Program. Originally, the program was funded by the SCC for $4 million statewide but beginning with FY2014-2015, the Dirt and Gravel Program was allocated $20 million while the Low Volume Road Program received $8 million.

Dirt and Gravel Road Program projects in Bedford County were first funded in 1998. During the early years of the program, many small projects were funded each year, many only costing a few hundred dollars to a few thousand. Only one project prior to 2014 had grant expenditures of $20,000 or more. During these years the annual allocation for Bedford County from the SCC ranged from $33,166 to $54,383, averaging $44,017. Since the program update, Bedford County receives an average of $271,902 for Dirt and Gravel and $180,463 for Low Volume.