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Scouts give I-95 travelers a treat

It was a tough weekend for travelers on Interstate 95; Saturday and Sunday afternoons saw heavy congestion in both directions

Date published: 11/30/2009

By KELLY HANNON

Nothing takes the edge off 50 miles of stop-and-go Interstate 95 traffic like a doughnut and hot coffee.

Thanksgiving travelers returning home yesterday were grateful for the Southern hospitality of Boy Scout Troop 1717 of Stafford County.

As a service project and camping fundraiser, the troop bought 20 dozen doughnuts and set up a refreshment tent at the Fredericksburg Welcome Center on I-95 southbound at mile marker 132.

"Have a safe journey," Scoutmaster Carl Darron called to a boy accepting a free Diet Coke.

As cars crept past all day on the interstate, Scouts in uniform and parent volunteers offered complimentary coffee, tea, hot chocolate, juice, sodas and water, with a Starbucks-worthy array of half-and-half and sweeteners.

Troop members also handed out directions and tried to solve a mechanical problem or two in the parking lot.

Any unsolicited donations were put toward the troop's back-country tent fund.

The troop has 60 Scouts ages 11 to 18 from southern and western Stafford, and adds 16 new members a year, Darron said. The troop hopes to purchase eight new two-person tents for winter camping, possibly in upstate New York or along the Appalachian Trail. "The guys want to go somewhere where there's snow on the ground," Darron said.

Scout Cole George of Stafford, who celebrated his 13th birthday yesterday, said drivers were very appreciative. "They don't have to pay for those pricey drinks" elsewhere, Cole said.

"They're like, 'How much is all this?' and we tell them it's free," said Scout Donovan Chlebo, 13, of Stafford.

Several Scouts said they enjoyed people-watching, too. One traveler walked a cat on a leash, and another traveler walked a potbellied pig with a spiked collar.

Lucy Cantrell of Ashland happily picked up a doughnut and hot beverage and made a donation on her way home from York, Pa.

What should have been a 31/2-hour trip had taken an extra hour so far, she said, and traffic had been slow-moving on I-95 southbound since the Springfield Interchange.

"Of course, the HOV lanes are always going the opposite direction of where I'm going," Cantrell said.

Northbound and southbound I-95 in the Fredericksburg area had patches of heavy congestion Saturday and yesterday afternoons, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation's real-time traffic program, 511 Virginia. Lengthy delays were also reported on I-95 southbound from the Springfield Interchange through Woodbridge both afternoons.

Numerous minor vehicle crashes were reported both days on I-95, but most were cleared quickly.

An exception was a tractor-trailer crash yesterday afternoon that occurred shortly before 1 p.m. at mile marker 132 on I-95 northbound in Fredericksburg just before the Rappahannock River bridge.

Traffic could pass the crash site, which was on the left shoulder, but a five-mile delay in Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County persisted for most of the afternoon.

A Virginia State Police spokesperson could not be reached for crash details.

Kelly Hannon: 540/374-5436
Email: khannon@freelancestar.com

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Date published: 11/30/2009