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Right turn on red? Central Park intersection perplexes motorists

Fredericksburg shopping center's traffic light causes concern

Eddie Gross
The Free Lance-Star

Date published: 10/20/2003

By EDIE GROSS

A LITTLE transportation joke courtesy of one Web site: A national magazine photographer was assigned to take pictures of a large forest fire. He was told that a small plane would be waiting to fly him over the blaze.

The photographer arrived at the airstrip just an hour before sundown. Sure enough, a small Cessna airplane was waiting. He jumped in with his equipment and shouted, "Let's go!"

The tense man sitting in the pilot's seat swung the plane into the wind and soon they were in the air, though flying erratically.

"Fly over the north side of the fire," said the photographer, "and make several low-level passes."

"Why?" asked the nervous pilot.

"Because I'm going to take pictures!" yelled the photographer. "I'm a photographer, and photographers take pictures."

The pilot replied, "You mean you're not the flight instructor?"

Q: Is this a legal right-turn-on-red situation? Coming from Interstate 95 onto State Route 3 west, there are two right-turn lanes to enter Central Park. I often see folks going through this traffic signal when it is a red light, but I wonder whether it is considered a "right turn" or a "straight through" situation. If it is not a legal right-turn-on-red situation, a sign should be posted.

--Tabitha Dingess, Stafford

A: Ahh, yes. The right-on-red quandary at Central Park. This has been a popular concern among local residents.

City police spokesman Jim Shelhorse has assured us that it's perfectly OK to turn right on that red light at Route 3 west and the entrance to Central Park, and you can do so from either right-turn lane.

You have to stop first, though, to make sure no other traffic is coming through that intersection.

Q: In the afternoon, the southbound I-95 exit at Massaponax can back up to a point where it becomes terribly dangerous. And if someone is broken down on the shoulder of the exit, it can be even worse.

Does VDOT have any plans to make the exit safer? I suggest extending the right-turn lane farther up the ramp so drivers don't have to pull onto the shoulder as tractor-trailers are flying by on I-95.

--Amber Thweatt, Spotsylvania

A: Unfortunately, that problem is not limited to the Massaponax exit. Traffic backs up on the interstate just before the Garrisonville Road (State Route 610) exit in North Stafford, and it can get pretty bad near the Courthouse Road (State Route 630) exit as well.

There are no projects in the pipeline to fix those problems, and it's not because they don't need fixing. Like anything else, those fixes would take money--money that's not available right now.

Projects on the interstate need both federal approval and federal dollars, both of which are difficult to come by.

EDIE GROSS is The Free Lance-Star's transportation reporter. If you have transportation-related questions, write to Getting There, c/o The Free Lance-Star, 616 Amelia St., Fredericksburg, Va. 22401; or browse fredericksburg .com and fill out the Getting There form.

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Date published: 10/20/2003