First of all, I'm delighted with the Spotsylvania County courthouse bypass road and the new Lake Anna Parkway. I use this road multiple times every day and I'm very pleased. I have been waiting for this road for more than 20 years. This road was built to drive safely at 65 miles an hour, and, judging by the speed of my fellow travelers, 65 is about right.
As a retired law enforcement officer who has responded to hundreds of deadly crashes--in 1965 I was helping to extract a teenager from a crashed vehicle and he died in our arms--those memories haunt me. The two entrances to Spotsylvania High School need to be reviewed: The new parkway was built 7 feet higher than old State Route 208. This creates a difficult and dangerous incline for students who will be using the exit at night while attending school activities, particularly in the winter after basketball and volleyball games.
The Post Oak Road entrance to the school needs to have at least 700 feet of turn lanes like we have in front of Massaponax High School. At Massaponax, the entrance/exit to the school consist of four lanes about 40 feet wide with a concrete median. At Spotsylvania, there are only three lanes (one to enter, two to exit), with a total width of about 32 feet. Right now the turn lanes are about 70 feet.
I'm not a traffic safety engineer, I'm a concerned resident, the father of four sons, and a man who has attended too many funerals of teenage drivers.
I call upon the appropriate authorities to make this beautiful highway safe for the 2,000 children who attend Spotsylvania and Post Oak schools.
Ray Lora
Spotsylvania