Driver inattentiveness cited at top of safety issues in Route 55 E corridor

Looking toward Rt. 55 East exiting High Knob – Photos/Roger BianchiniAfter listening to an elaborate Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) report on traffic analysis and curative cost estimates for Route 55 East/John Marshall Highway corridor ranging from $2.4 million (electronic signage) to $32 million (road expansion), several High Knob residents whose subdivision entranceway is at or near the top of the list of dangerous intersections under review came up with a novel and cheap solution – pay attention when you are driving on high speed roads with neighborhood access and turning vehicle warnings posted.

One of those residents, Merry Lynn Sheetz, noted she still suffers from the aftermath of spine and brain injuries suffered in a 2010 accident at the High Knob entrance.

VDOT Engineer Ed Carter pointed to the same problem during the VDOT presentation.

“Solutions don’t work if people aren’t paying attention,” Carter observed of any approach eventually decided upon by the county and VDOT.

Looking east from the High Knob entrance/exit

Driver inattentiveness is a serious issue on the approaches to High Knob, complicated as they are westbound from Linden by a blind hill approach to the entrance, and from the east and Front Royal by a looping curved approach.

Looking west toward Front Royal

So, while the county government and VDOT try to maneuver for funding access and a solution that is financially feasible, all of us who drive John Marshall Highway or any road in our community with access and egress points can help by just paying attention to the road and warning signs. How hard can that be, people?!!? – Lock the cell phones in the trunk if need be.

Another factor addressed by High Knob residents was speed. Several suggested a further lowering of the speed limit at the approaches to their neighborhood and aggressive enforcement and ticketing of offenders.

The current speed limit through that part of Route 55 East/John Marshall Highway is 55 mph with approach signs warning “Slow Down to 45 mph”, “Watch for Turning Traffic” and “High Knob entrance 500 feet” posted in each direction.

‘Watch for turning vehicles – 45 mph’ sign approaching High Knob from town

All six public concerns speakers coming to the podium following the VDOT report and STARS Route 55 Corridor Study review were High Knob residents. All six agreed that speed and driver awareness were primary safety issues; and all plead for county government and VDOT help in mitigating what all agreed is a life-threatening situation. Those speakers were Jim Coats, Barbara Gimber, Jay Buckner, Merry Lynn Sheetz, Laurie Oaks and Chris Estes.

VDOT’s Carter noted that any speed limit change on a high-volume state road like Route 55 East would first require a traffic engineering study to review road parameters such as existing speed limit, geometrics of the stretch of road in question, and a safety history of that section of road.

“I’d be glad to see when the last speed study was done there,” Carter told the county supervisors, as well as how soon a new study could be undertaken. Carter estimated a 60-day study period once initiated by VDOT. Carter noted that slowing traffic down too much on a section of a 55 mph road can create its own safety issues.

Of the suggested lowering of the speed limit, Carter noted another human nature-based problem past studies have indicated – “People tend to drive at the speed they are comfortable with.”

And while it may be a two-lane road, as public speaker Estes pointed out of a significant portion of the problem, “People are coming off of I-66 and don’t think to slow down.”

Estes, who said he was a recent transplant from the D.C. Metro area, raised the idea of speed cameras. However, later queried on that idea by board Chair Tony Carter, VDOT’s Ed Carter noted that all those cameras can do is pin down the time of offenses, not identify specific license numbers in order to issue speeding tickets.

Another difficulty in the speed-limit solution suggested by residents of his former neighborhood was pointed to by County Administrator Doug Stanley. That difficulty is a lack of shoulder space where law enforcement monitoring posts could be set up and speed limit violators can safely be pulled over.

“The lack of ability to enforce there has been an issue,” Stanley observed.

On the upper-cost end of potential solutions in the $32-million range was expansion of the two-lane road to four lanes, with a left turning lane westbound and a right-turn lane eastbound from town.

On the lower end of the potential solution spectrum was installation of a situational “slow down – traffic backup ahead” warning sign system. VDOT’s Carter noted that constantly flashing slow-down warning lights were not as effective because over time drivers tend to become “oblivious” to them.

On our own?

As for accessing VDOT funding for any safety solution in the Route 55 East corridor, Ed Carter told county officials he did not anticipate the Warren County project would score well competitively statewide.

County Administrator Stanley noted that the last time the County had applied for such project funding it had scored “near the bottom” on a statewide priority list – “That’s why we didn’t re-apply this time,” Stanley observed.

So, it seems the County is in the position of re-applying and hoping for the best, while anticipating another low score mandating a cheaper or shorter-term solution.

Among lower-cost solutions, perhaps the situational traffic back-up warning system and/or a county investment in widening some shoulder spaces to facilitate lower speed limit enforcement should VDOT authorized a speed reduction on that portion of Route 55 East approaching High Knob.

And then of course there is the immediately accessible and cheaper “let’s all pay attention to the road and its warning and speed limit signs when we’re driving” solution.

Why not?

As a trio of VDOT engineers listen in front row, Merry Lynn Sheetz recounts her own personal nightmare with the consequences of a collision while trying to access her High Knob neighborhood.