IF YOU HAVEN'T
The "T" intersection where the shopping center's main entrance met the internal ring road near Belk has been replaced by a two-lane roundabout.
I went through the roundabout on Wednesday, and although signs tell drivers to "yield to traffic" in the roundabout, there seemed to be a lot of hesitation.
The Virginia Department of Transportation devotes an entire Web page to driving in roundabouts, since they are making a comeback.
I've distilled a few of the highlights here, but you can watch a video demonstration at virginiadot.org/info/faq-roundabouts.asp.
Slow down.
Yield to traffic
already in the roundabout.
Do not drive alongside buses or large trucks in a roundabout, since they may need to take up more than one lane to navigate it.
Use your right turn signal to indicate when you will exit a roundabout.
There's a second roundabout at Spotsylvania Towne Centre near the under-construction Muvico movie theater. Another roundabout is on the Mary Washington Hospital campus in Fredericksburg, and another is in the Orange County town of Gordonsville where U.S. 15, U.S. 33 and State Route 231 meet.
Did I miss one? E-mail me at
Email: khannon@freelancestar.com.
Virginia Railway Express will post information on the 2009 Santa Trains on vre.org on Tuesday, and I'll share the information in Wednesday's paper. This year's Santa Trains will run on Saturday, Dec. 12.
Dear Kelly: What can be done to improve the railroad crossing on Ferry Road in Stafford? The wooden ties between the rails are falling apart. Many drivers are slowing down to a creep due to the bumpy crossing. Who should be contacted to fix this safety problem?
--Margaret and Bill Mock, Stafford
Dear Kelly: The light to turn left from Route 3 eastbound onto Ferry Road often lets one car through (at best) between 6:30 and 8 p.m. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.
Also, once you turn onto Ferry Road, the railroad crossing is a suspension-stressing experience. It has badly deteriorated, making crossing it a challenge, and slowing traffic badly.
--Lori Kissell, Stafford
CSX Corp. owns the railroad tracks and the railroad crossing at Ferry Road, and the company is responsible for the crossing's upkeep.
To report a variety of situations, including a problem with a railroad crossing, call CSX's public relations staff at 877/TELL-CSX.
I contacted CSX's media relations staff and asked about the crossing's status.
CSX spokesman Bob Sullivan said the Ferry Road crossing will be replaced in 2010. No specific date was available.
When I first received your questions, I contacted the Virginia Department of Transportation just to be sure it did not have anything planned for the crossing. Since it is CSX property, VDOT does not. "We will advise CSX of the unsafe conditions reported by the citizen," wrote Tina Bundy, VDOT spokeswoman, in an e-mail.
Now for the traffic signal: VDOT inspected the signal at State Route 3 and Ferry Road, and found everything to be working properly.
The short window for left turns you notice between 6:30 and 8 p.m. is what's known as a "conditional service program."
This service kicks in when no westbound traffic on Route 3 is using its green signal. The signal's sensors detect this, and devote whatever leftover time exists to the eastbound traffic turning left onto Ferry Road. VDOT does this to move as many cars as it can through that left turn lane, since traffic has the tendency to overflow the lane and block the general traffic lanes on Route 3.
The one or two cars that squeak through in this "leftover" time are a bonus. The "green" time for these left turns will be much shorter than it will be when it's officially that lane's turn to go. During the official time, 25 seconds are devoted to the left turn lane, but in the conditional service window, the left turn time might be as brief as eight seconds.
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.