DOES YOUR child
Read the study online at iihs.org, and find out which seats the Institute considers "best bets," "good bets" or "not recommended."
Work to widen Bragg Road to four lanes between Carl D. Silver Parkway and State Route 3 near the Spotsylvania-Fredericksburg line will start in mid-November.
Anyone can attend a public information meeting on the project from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 3, at Fredericksburg Expo and Conference Center. Virginia Department of Transportation officials will be present to answer questions.
Dear Kelly: I live in the Smoketree subdivision down Old Plank Road in Spotsylvania County. A while ago, in your column, someone was asking whether there was going to be a light put in at the four-way stop between Harrison Road and Old Plank Road. You said that the Silver Cos. had paid for the light and that the matter was in the hands of VDOT.
What is the holdup? The traffic is getting worse, and a lot of drivers don't understand the four-way stop. We really need the light.
--Callie Freed, Spotsylvania
A traffic signal will be working at this intersection sometime in early 2009, according to an e-mail from Spotsylvania spokeswoman Kathy Smith.
The Silver Cos. are funding the traffic signal. But all plans for the traffic signal had to be approved by the Virginia Department of Transportation.
The design plans for the traffic signal were reconfigured, said Tina Bundy, VDOT spokeswoman for the Fredericksburg District.
The signal design changed from an interim span-wire traffic signal to a mast-arm system that can accommodate future traffic lanes at the intersection. The new construction designs have been approved, Bundy said.
Dear Kelly: Why did the speed limit on State Route 218 East lower from 55 mph to 45 mph as you enter King George? I can understand lowering it to 45 mph a few miles into the county when the road gets very narrow and curvy, but why was it lowered starting at the county line? Right after the county line is the last straight stretch and passing zone for miles. People often use this stretch to legally pass cars carrying boats, large trucks and farm equipment that must drive slower in the curvy section. This stretch of road does not have the number of crashes that occur farther east.
--Meg Moore, King George
The Virginia Department of Transportation did a speed study of State Route 218, including the stretch around the Stafford/King George line. Tina Bundy, a VDOT spokeswoman, sent the following response from VDOT traffic engineer Mike Shafer: "The speed limit was reduced in response to the high number of accidents and the resulting injuries/fatalities that were occurring. The majority of these accidents were 'Fixed Object Off Road' which indicates that some drivers were not anticipating changes in roadway geometry and roadside conditions sufficiently to determine appropriate driving speeds irrespective of existing curve warning signs. This speed limit reduction does not prohibit vehicles from passing in a legal passing zone."
So VDOT has lowered the speed limit at the county line, well in advance of the curvy portion.
Kelly Hannon is The Free Lance-Star's transportation reporter. If you have questions, send them to Getting There,