THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 24, 1995 TAG: 9509230127
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAWSON MILLS
CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
Shore Drive between the west gate of Fort Story and 83rd Street is a thing of beauty to some, a wide asphalt ribbon with a broad tree-lined median snaking gracefully beneath a canopy of green.
But to others it is a deadly killer. That stretch of road has been the scene of 83 vehicular accidents - 10 of them fatal - from 1991 to 1994, claiming a total of 19 lives.
Several factors contribute to the stretch's abysmal record. Drunk drivers, speeders, the lack of adequate paved shoulders, deep ditches, trees and inky darkness have all been blamed for the carnage.
In response, the City of Virginia Beach hired a consultant to study the reasons and recommend solutions. Larsen Engineers Inc., the firm undertaking the study, and Richard Nettleton, an engineer with the city's public works department, held a meeting last Thursday at Great Neck Middle School to solicit public comments. Fourteen people attended, a ``disappointing turn-out'' for Nettleton, who had hoped to see at least 75.
Lawrence Gassman, vice president and area manager with Larsen Engineers and the senior consultant on the project, presented a detailed report concerning the factors examined to date. Speeds on Shore Drive, he said, run considerably higher than the posted 55 mph limit.
``We have found that people are bunched up there,'' said Gassman, ``and very comfortable driving fast.''
Many of the accident statistics for that stretch of roadway are markedly different from city and statewide statistics, Gassman pointed out.
For instance, only 43 percent of the accidents studied took place during daylight hours, but 72 percent of accidents statewide happen in the daytime. Drivers age 21 to 30 were involved in 52 percent of the accidents; the statewide average for that age group is only 30 percent. Alcohol played a part in 37 percent, versus 6 percent citywide throughout Virginia Beach, and 9 percent for the state as a whole.
A vehicle struck a tree in almost two-thirds of the accidents studied. Westbound accidents outnumbered eastbound by almost two to one.
Three of the meeting attendees had first-hand knowledge of the road's fatal track record: Ocean Park Rescue Squad members Jerry Freeman, Skip Scribner and Les Rouse. Rouse said that the width of the right-of-way should be increased by removing trees, and also suggested that a radar-activated warning light would deter speeders.
The lack of adequate safety margins on the side of the road and the need for more cut-throughs in the medians also contribute to the death toll, Rouse added.
A father whose daughter ran off the left side of the road in December of 1990 advocated the installation of guard rails.
``They may cost money,'' he said, ``but if we can blow money on a $7.5 million overrun in the schools, we can fix that highway.''
Martha Kessler, of Virginia Beach, wasn't sure of the wisdom of wider paved shoulders, fearing that they would be turned into additional travel lanes by speeders eager to pass on the right.
A woman, identifying herself as a ``six-year resident'' of the area, expressed the fear that all of the improvements being contemplated will turn Shore Drive into ``another (Interstate) 64,'' destroying its scenic beauty.
At the end of the meeting Nettleton explained that the next step will be to prepare a package to present to City Council, probably within the next 45 days. A ``state mechanism'' has made $550,000 available through the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act. But that is not enough to implement all of the changes under consideration.
``The issue now,'' said Nettleton, ``is how to get the biggest hazard reduction for the buck.'' by CNB