Hope Road resident urges road improvements

By Uriah A. Kiser

Published: April 2, 2008

STAFFORD — The speed limit is posted at 30 miles per hour along the 100 block of Hope Road in Stafford, but the remnants of car windshields and broken taillights are enough to indicate that some drivers find the sharp curve in that section of the roadway too much to handle even at that rate of speed.

The latest in a string of accidents along that section of roadway happened the night of Feb.15, causing major personal injuries to the people inside the vehicle involved in the crash, according to a Stafford County Sheriff’s Office report.

That same evening, David Star of 106 Hope Road, wrote a strongly-worded email to Stafford County Supervisor Paul Milde, R –Aquia, hoping to bring attention a dangerous curve in the road, which he said is a major factor in these accidents.

“Tonight was a sad night in Stafford. A fourth head-on collision has happened in front of my house in a few short years,” Star wrote in the email. “As I type this letter, the Stafford County emergency teams are trying to save the lives of two small children and their father…their blood is on my road and on my land.”

No one died that evening, but the letter stuck a chord with Milde, and like many other hazardous spots in the county, Hope Road became a major focus, he said. Milde forwarded the email to members of the Stafford County Planning Commission, asking for the section of roadway to be reviewed to see if it was on the county’s list of dangerous roads, especially hazardous for young drivers.

When Milde received a response from Fulton DeLamorton, Stafford’s transportation administrator, stating that it was not on the list, the e-mails stopped, and so did any further action to fix the curve in Hope Road.

“I have no recourse but to forward these types of issues onto the transportation commissioner, and of my two requests made to the commission, I haven’t heard anything back from them,” said Milde. “It’s not the only deadly roadway in the county, but with several e-mails to the transportation commission, I certainly think it deserves a response.”

Recently the planning commission approved the 6-year roadway improvement plan, and Hope Road was nowhere on the list, according to Cecilia Kirkman, chairperson for the Stafford County Planning Commission.

“It does sound like there has been some communication breakdown here. Apparently the Aquia supervisor did not communicate to his representative on the planning commission his desire to have this particular road looked at,” said Kirkman.

Kirkman made no mention of ever reading the e-mails that were forwarded to her commission, but did say her job responsibilities are expanding to include a larger focus on road safety.

“In the past the focus has been on traffic flow issues, now in addition to those we are putting the focus on road safety issues, and getting accident information from VDOT,” said Kirkman.

So, while the officials battle it out as to what actions they can take to fix the road, Star hopes for the sake of his children, who when old enough, will play in his front yard located along the roadway, that something is done soon.

“If they were to to fix this within the year, they would have to use state finds to fix the road, so I don’t think that will happen within a year,” said Star. “I do think someone else will get into another accident here within the year.”