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CALL IT THE Wegmans effect. A road that was pretty much ignored before the grocery store opened June 21 is suddenly the focus of white-hot interest.

Free Lance-Star reporter Emily Battle, who covers the city of Fredericksburg, was fielding questions all last week about the opening date for a connector road between Wegmans and Fall Hill Avenue.

The road is part of Gordon W. Shelton Boulevard. It runs past a PNC bank and leads to the Wegmans parking lot before intersecting with Carl D. Silver Parkway.

Battle updated readers on her fredericksburg.com blog, City Beat. Battle learned that the road can't open until a traffic signal is installed by the Silver Cos. at the intersection of Fall Hill Avenue and Shelton Boulevard.

"According to Charlie Kilpatrick, Silver's vice president for commercial construction, the developer is still working to get easements on the land across Fall Hill Avenue, which it does not own, so that it can install parts of the traffic light there. This light will be designed to accommodate the future development of the land across the street, and the planned widening of Fall Hill Avenue, whenever that happens," Battle wrote on City Beat.

"Kilpatrick said Silver is still in negotiations to get those easements. He wasn't sure exactly how long that would take, but once the developer has access to the property, it should take about three weeks to build the stoplight. After that, the intersection should be fully functional for left and right turns," Battle wrote.

Dear Kelly: The lane markings northbound on Sanford Drive at the intersection with U.S. 17 in Stafford are confusing. There are arrows for right and left turns, but the center lane is unmarked. Drivers are turning in both directions from the unmarked lane. When drivers use the unmarked lane and turn right they sometimes cut off drivers who use the right turn lane to access the interstate or to get to the middle eastbound lane toward Falmouth. Can this be corrected?

--Don Mohr, Stafford

Yes, it can and it will. A work order has been submitted to mark the center lane. VDOT reviewed the lane markings at the intersection and agreed they were not clear, said VDOT spokeswoman Tina Bundy. Look for markings in the center lane very soon.

Dear Kelly: When will the I-95 bridge on eastbound Massaponax Church Road (State Route 608) be completed? When the project started in mid-April 2008 it was supposed to be a 12- month project. Now we're headed into 16 months and still dealing with one lane of traffic and added delays of having to wait for the temporary light to change. Sometimes it appears that nothing is being done for days on end and it's getting beyond exasperating, especially when many days I have to make several trips on Massaponax Church Road, and I'm tired of the extra waiting!

--Susan Shappell, Spotsylvania

This project is wrapping up. The completion date is Sept. 30, 2009, and work is on schedule to be finished by then, said VDOT spokeswoman Bundy.

The schedule for the entire project was nearly 24 months. VDOT began work in fall 2007 expecting it would take until Sept. 2009 to complete, Bundy said.

Corman Construction Inc. is rehabilitating the existing bridge and modifying some of the approaches on Massaponax Church Road.

The $2.8 million project is being funded with state and federal money.

When the work is finished, the bridge will have two 12-foot lanes, two 8-foot shoulders, and improved alignment and drainage.

However, to get this work done, VDOT had to close one lane of traffic on the bridge. VDOT installed temporary traffic signals in March 2008 that forced traffic to take turns crossing the bridge.

VDOT issued a press release at the time that said the traffic signals would be in place for 12 months, and I reported that time frame in "Getting There."

Bundy said the project is not behind schedule--it will be finished by the end of September--but the traffic signals will be in place longer than expected, for several more months.

"The project sequence has changed. We haven't had it run into any problems, it's just the sequence of work changed and it required us to keep those signals in place, and they will stay in place for the duration of the project," Bundy said.

"We ask folks to be patient for just a little bit longer, and we'll have it all opened soon," Bundy said.

Dear Kelly: This week the traffic pattern at the intersection of Spotsylvania Avenue and Mine Road changed. It is clearly marked but people still can't see it. The right lane on Spotsylvania Avenue was switched to right turn only, and many people are still using it for straight ahead. This causes a problem for my co-workers and me because we need to turn right after that intersection and we are having a hard time getting over. Why was it switched to right turn only, and can anything else be done to help alert people to the new traffic pattern?

--Helen Karau, Stafford

The lane pattern was switched to move vehicles through the intersection faster, said VDOT's Bundy. The number of cars waiting to drive straight and turn right had increased, so VDOT decided to give right-turning vehicles their own lane. VDOT recently changed the lane markings and signal head signs to alert drivers to the change, but as you write, people are so set in their routine they may not have noticed. I drove through this intersection recently, and I'm not sure I noticed, either! Hopefully your question will alert everyone to the change. But until people are clued in, I'd be extra alert at this intersection.

I'm not sure what else VDOT could do, apart from installing one of its mobile electronic message boards.

Dear Kelly: Is there a reason the stoplight at the intersection of Lafayette Boulevard and the Blue and Gray Parkway is not on night traffic sensors?

Out of the 52 weeks of the year, I am stopped four out of five mornings (3 a.m.) to let no traffic cross the parkway at Lafayette. Does the city plan to change the timing of the light to trigger only when there is actually traffic at the intersection to cross?

It seems to be a waste of fuel and time to stop and start for no reason.

--Michael Humphries, Spotsylvania

City staff checked the traffic signal and found a fault with the signal's loop detector. The signal was reset, and the problem should be corrected, according to an e-mail response from Doug Fawcett, Fredericksburg's director of public works. Due to the high volume of traffic at this intersection during most of the day, the faulty detector went unnoticed. So, thank you for rising so early (or going home late).

If the detector still seems to be broken, Fawcett encourages you to call the city's Public Works Department at 540/372-1023.

Kelly Hannon is The Free Lance-Star's transportation reporter. If you have questions, send them to Getting There, c/o The Free Lance-Star, 616 Amelia St., Fredericksburg, Va. 22401; or you may fill out the Getting There form on the Web at fredericksburg.com.

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