Va. Code § 33.2-301
All maintenance on components of the Interstate System, excluding frontage roads, shall be carried out under contracts awarded by the Commissioner of Highways or the Board pursuant to §§ 33.2-209, 33.2-214, and 33.2-221, except for instances where good and sufficient reasons for not doing so have been shown in advance in writing by the Commissioner of Highways to the Board and to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Transportation, the House Committee on Appropriations, the House Committee on Finance, the Senate Committee on Transportation, and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the Department from performing emergency work at any time on the Interstate System with its own employees or agents or to assume the maintenance responsibilities of a contractor who has been determined to be in default or as a result of a contract termination.
Va. Code § 33.2-301