THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 21, 1996 TAG: 9601190250
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Long : 211 lines
I am writing this letter concerning the proposed changes to the intersection at Centerville Turnpike and Land of Promise Road and the attitudes of some of our fine citizens on this issue.
I find it truly hard to believe that some of us take the loss of life so lightly. Drunkenness, the influence of drugs or any other cause results in someone losing a father, a mother, a brother, a sister, a son, a daughter or a friend.
I lost my best friend, my father, on Nov. 11, 1995. The accident that killed him was weather-related. I don't ask why. I don't place blame. He had traveled that stretch of road for as long as I can remember. When I was a boy we visited my grandfather every weekend in Grandy, N.C., traveling that road through those same curves. We moved to Chesapeake in 1991. So he knew the road! Because of the storm that blew through that night, he failed to even attempt to negotiate the first curve.
Upon visiting the accident scene, I discovered that his tracks led from the road to the utility pole his car struck and the trees his car came to a rest on after striking them approximately four feet in the air. He wore no seatbelt; the police said it would not have mattered. He was traveling approximately 55 to 60 miles per hour. His tracks led in a straight path crossing the opposing lane traveling in a straight course with no skid marks or any other signs of control loss to the point of the first impact, the pole. Had it not been the pole, he would have struck the trees.
In an instant he was gone. My sister and her husband were traveling behind him close enough to see the accident, and they saw no brake lights as he went off the road.
My brother-in-law was injured in an attempt to rescue my father. He was shocked not once but twice in his efforts to help my father. He was within inches of death when a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction came around the curve and almost struck him. That person failed to even stop to help. I commend him for his valiant effort and risk of his life to try to save my father. He is a hero, and I think everyone should know it.
I commend the police, the Fire Department and any other persons involved with helping with the accident that night. They were there in less than six minutes - a miracle in every respect, considering the conditions that night.
You see, I am thoroughly convinced my father, for whatever reason, did not see the sign reducing the speed before the turn and did not even see the curve because of the weather conditions. My father is gone. Nothing can bring him back. I will miss him and always have him in my heart!
I don't care if the drivers are drunk, drug-influenced or speeding. We, as citizens, must prevent further death and injuries from this dangerous section of road. Flashing lights, rumble strips, totally rebuilding the whole road if that is what it takes. We must put our selfish personal needs aside and keep other families from going through the pain, the loss and suffering that my family and others have gone through.
No matter what the cause - whether it be due to the use of alcohol, drugs or speeding or anything else you deem as being less significant than losses you may suffer - the loss isn't any easier for their families and friends!
Thank you for the opportunity to tell one story to maybe change some views to help to save someone else's family member or friend.
Please remember to buckle up and put your kids in their car seats. Do everything in your power to protect your families, friends and to make our fine citizens and our city safe for us and our visitors!
James J. Sutherland Jr.
Old Mill Road Do it right
We are very concerned about the road improvement on Centerville Turnpike and Land of Promise Road because we are residents on the curve.
We have lived here for more than 10 years and have lost count of the wrecks, deaths and injuries from this section of the highway. In one incident a car crossed our yard and scraped the house right next to my son's bedroom window, where his bed was located. A few more inches, and our son could have been killed or seriously injured. Many have wrecked in or near our yard. My son helped to save a young teenager who was pinned under a pickup truck on Sept. 8, 1989, on Labor Day weekend. It was featured on ``Rescue 911.''
On Nov. 11, 1995, the latest wreck with a fatality occurred about 9 p.m. Our pastor and friends were at my house enjoying a surprise birthday party. Suddenly the lights went out and we heard a loud noise. The pastor and his son went out to see what happened. A vehicle had hit the light pole, and the lines were down on the road. They could not help or do anything until Virginia Power could turn off the electricity. My son is an EMT and I now know some of the things he sees when called to a wreck. We were unable to help because of sparks flying from the live wires. One of the victims lying in the road was hit by another vehicle while waiting to be moved from the original accident. It was a horrifying experience.
Over the past 10 years you have no idea how many times I have gone to the road after a wreck to stop the traffic from running into the wrecked vehicle. There was a time when only one police officer would be at the scene, and I would be asked to stop the traffic up the curve coming northbound until he could get more help.
One of my greatest concerns is the school buses that pick up and let children off in the curve. As a mother of three boys, I have had to deal with the problem of them getting off and on the bus for years along with other children in the area, praying no one will come around the blind curve too fast and be unable to stop and hit the bus or the children.
I know people don't like change, but with the population and the traffic growth on Centerville Turnpike, something needs to be done now before anymore lives are taken. Alternate 8 is not the answer. Dressing up this dangerous curve with flashing lights, signs and lowering the speed limit will not work. Get real, citizens!
How many really obey the traffic signs and signals even in their best frame of mind? How many have run caution or even red lights and maybe daydream and have to make a quick stop to keep from rear-ending the car in front of you? You don't have to be intoxicated or even to fall asleep at the wheel to have an accident. I know personally from some of the wrecks I have witnessed on this curve that alcohol was not a factor, just poor judgment in their speed when trying to make the curve.
In closing, we both feel alternate 1 is the only safe plan that would affect the least number of residents and property. This amount of money has already been allocated under the budget. Also more money would have to be spent to improve Centerville Turnpike to accommodate Outer Banks traffic, which is increasing every year. To widen Centerville Turnpike at a later date will mean purchasing several more homes instead of the two under alternate 1. The city has already informed us that this would be needed in the future. Why not save the taxpayers' money and do it right the first time?
The City Council will help the people they represent as well as gaining respect and praise from the taxpayers by using common sense and saving the tax money.
We support Alternate 1 for the good of all, not just a few.
Mr. and Mrs. Troy Lambert
Centerville Turnpike South Eliminate death trap
Many citizens of Chesapeake who use Centerville Turnpike on a regular basis and those of us who live on or near Centerville are becoming increasingly concerned about a turn of events in the proposed improvements of the intersection of Centerville Turnpike and Land of Promise Road.
Several of the vocal residents of the five houses on Woodmont Drive seem to have developed close ties with a few City Council members and have apparently convinced them that the City Department of Public Works engineers, by proposing two safe and permanent solutions to eliminate the dangerous ``S'' curve on Centerville (Alternates 1 and 2), have been inept in their duties. They insist that flashing lights, rumble strips and lower speed limits will stop the accidents and fatalities in the curve. Why is it that they are suddenly more qualified than our city engineers?
Woodmont residents and their followers keep harping on their findings that a majority of serious accidents in the curve involved drinking. So be it. Why leave a death trap in our neighborhood for drivers, drunk or sober? Why don't those in opposition to a safe alternate channel their efforts toward an organization like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) instead of fighting the sensible solution?
A neighborhood meeting was held last Sunday, Jan. 14, and invitations were mailed in advance to each council member so they could personally hear the concerns of the more than 20 residents present at that meeting. No one from City Council was present or even bothered to call in response to that meeting. All that the vast majority of residents of the Centerville Turnpike area want is a permanent, safe solution to an on-going problem that is rapidly increasing. We don't think this is too much to ask.
Alex and Deborah Puckett
Centerville Turnpike South No new raceway
The straightening of the S-curve on Centerville Turnpike has me very concerned. Some people believe this curve is dangerous because people fail to recognize the necessity to slow down, and as a result, some very bad accidents have occurred there.
However, has anyone considered the consequences of removing this curve? You will then have a longer 55 mph stretch with people dangerously passing and dump trucks pulling out of the sand pit. We will then have another Battlefield Boulevard South situation. There, a borrow pit was voted down because of the danger of slow-moving dump trucks pulling out onto a two-lane, 55 mph road. If this curve is straightened, we will then have another, dangerous stretch of road in south Chesapeake, also part of the route leading to the Outer Banks.
Instead of creating a new raceway, why not just make some new, more obvious warnings for the road already there?
Claudia McKenna
Battlefield Boulevard Best solution for all
I have traveled Centerville Turnpike for many years and am quite familiar with the dangerous curve at the Turnpike and Land of Promise Road.
I have friends who reside in the immediate area and visit them quite often.
In response to the letters regarding the Woodmont Drive area, I also wonder why a ``green space,'' a ``golf course'' or the ``continued sanctity of the American home'' in Woodmont is more important than the sanctity of the homes in the vicinity of the curved section of the turnpike that is now under discussion.
If the curve is widened, it will take all but a few feet of the front yard of the homes there, plus the loss of a beautiful magnolia tree, other trees, shrubs and a part of the wooded area across the road.
If a home has but a few feet of front yard, the value of that property will be cut. Who would consider investing in property that would not even have parking space for the owner's vehicles? There are several homes to be considered at this curve, not just three, as mentioned in prior correspondence regarding Woodmont.
If drivers under the influence of alcohol or drugs are the cause of these accidents, perhaps a road without dangerous curves would simplify the matter because how else can you control such a situation?
Please let us choose Alternate 1 or 2 as the best solutions for everyone involved.
Alice M. Bancroft
Indian Creek Road Excessive RV tax
Well, here it is budget review time at the City Council meetings.
If you own a recreational vehicle registered in Chesapeake or are contemplating purchasing a RV this year, please attend the council meeting this Tuesday, Jan. 23.
Help the Chesapeake chapter of the Hampton Roads RV Owners Association, who is petitioning the council to reduce personal property taxes on RVs. Chesapeake's tax rates are higher than every other city in the region. Also boat rates are $1.50 per $100 evaluation, while RV rates are $4 per $100.
Show your support and concern by attending the next council meeting.
Warren Cooke
Oak Ridge Drive by CNB