Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 9, 1995 TAG: 9501090021
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Virginia Department of Transportation is studying Virginia 24 to determine what long-term fixes the road may need, but it will take four to 16 years to start any widening of the road, says VDOT's resident engineer for Bedford County, Jeff Kessler. That's because Virginia 24 never has been listed among the roads scheduled for comprehensive widening and upgrading in VDOT's long-range plans.
Why not?
Bedford County Board of Supervisors Chairman Dale Wheeler and Chamblissburg Ruritan Club President Harry B. Reed Jr. say VDOT studies of Virginia 24 have understated the traffic flow and number of accidents on the road.
Wheeler, who lives near 24 and travels it often, said, ``They counted the traffic wrong. We fell victim to a bad count and I think it hurt us.''
He points to 1993 VDOT figures that showed the average daily traffic on Virginia 24 dropped from 17,000 cars in Vinton to 5,800 just over the Bedford County line.
``Look at the traffic counts for the Roanoke County line to the [Blue Ridge] Parkway,'' he said. ``It's almost 20,000 cars. They're telling you that 10,000 cars turned right on Falling Creek Road to [Del.] Dick Cranwell's house. Where did all those cars go?''
Kessler says those figures are averages and are higher because they include traffic closer to the Roanoke city line in Vinton, where traffic tends to be heavier.
Relying on averages understates the problem, Reed says. As evidence, he cites VDOT's weeklong traffic counts at two intersections along Virginia 24 in Stewartsville and Chamblissburg in June 1990.
Those special intersection surveys, which were requested by the Ruritans, showed average daily traffic counts of about 9,500 cars in Chamblissburg and 15,000 cars in Stewartsville - significantly more than VDOT's official 1991 daily traffic count averages of 4,600 cars in Stewartsville and 3,900 cars in Chamblissburg.
While some of that may have included summer lake traffic, Reed says he doubts all of the traffic was heading there. It's always there, he says; VDOT just isn't counting it properly.
Kessler acknowledges that intersection surveys give more specific information but adds that there hasn't been money to perform such an intensive study of the Virginia 24 area - although he hopes to perform more intersection surveys during the current engineering study.
He says that, as a result of this study, the Commonwealth Transportation Board, which allocates funding to VDOT for long-term road improvements, may also consider adding Virginia 24 to VDOT's list of roads scheduled to receive construction money.
Lower traffic counts aren't Reed's only beef with VDOT's assessment of Virginia 24. He also questions its calculation of accidents, injuries and fatalities on the road.
A report prepared by VDOT last year said that between Jan. 1, 1990, and Dec. 31, 1993, there were 276 accidents on Virginia 24 with 229 people injured. In a revised VDOT report, VDOT added six more months of accident statistics and came out with fewer accidents and injuries overall.
The new VDOT report showed that between Jan. 1, 1990, and June 30, 1994, there were 263 accidents - 13 fewer - with 208 people injured - 21 fewer.
That's not because the first report was incorrect or the people in the accidents were magically healed.
VDOT decided that, since it widened a stretch of Virginia 24 in 1992 where many of the accidents occurred, those accidents couldn't happen again, and thus don't need to be counted in a present-day assessment of how dangerous the road is. That's the way it was explained by Ellen Ambler, a Richmond-based senior transportation engineer for VDOT who is heading the task force to improve Virginia 24.
Reed doesn't buy that. He thinks everything should be counted. While he acknowledges that VDOT can't possibly catalog every accident on Virginia 24, he doesn't think they should expunge the ones they do know about.
``The way those figures have been presented do not reflect the true picture,'' he said. ``Those accidents, they did happen. That's part of the history of the road. They can't be ignored.''
by CNB