Panel focuses on road safety

By Uriah A. Kiser

Published: April 17, 2008

STAFFORD — Government officials met Monday evening at the Stafford County Administration Center to discuss which county roads will need immediate funding for safety and capital improvements.

Stafford Sheriff Charles Jett addressed members of the meeting panel, which included members of the county board of supervisors. Jett said the smaller, or secondary roads, remain a problem in the county.

“The number of reportable accidents has stayed steady in recent years, but there is nothing stating that the traffic situation is getting worse,” said Jett. “The accidents in the county are more serious on the secondary roads…those secondary roads do not offer much room for error.”

The number of licensed drivers in the county has risen from 77,000 to 83,000 since 2003, but the number of accidents in the county has decreased during that same time period, according to Jett.

The sheriff also outlined some of the more troubled intersections where his department frequently responds to accidents.

“Courthouse Road west of Interstate 95, particularly at the Winding Creek Road intersection is bad,” said Jett.

Jett also identified Hartwood and Poplar roads as problematic transportation areas in the county.

Brooke Road is problematic because of “the number of cars” that travel the road, according to Jett.

Stafford County tops both Spotsylvania and Hanover counties in speed-related crashes, with a total of 579 crashes in 2007, according to a preliminary report distributed at the meeting by Jett. That number is up nearly 25 percent over the previous year.

Traffic flow improvements were also noted at the meeting, including a recommendation by Stafford County Fire Chief Rob Brown, to install traffic pre-emption devices at each intersection along Garrisonville and Warrenton roads. The devices would allow emergency responders to control the flow of traffic along those roads when responding to an emergency, improving overall response time.

The advisory group is now one-third of the way through its fact-finding meetings to identify which roadways in the county require traffic improvements. A final decision on which projects to fund will be made to the Virginia Department of Transportation by June 17, according to Stafford County Supervisor Mark Dudenhefer, R-Garrisonville.