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Regional safety plan presented to Nelson County board highlights crash concentrations on a small share of roads
Summary
A draft Move Safely Blue Ridge safety action plan identified that 75% of Nelson County’s fatal and injury crashes occur on 7% of roads; the plan recommends spot improvements, RCUTs, speed studies, and non-engineering measures and would make the county eligible for implementation grant funding if adopted.
Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission staff presented the draft Move Safely Blue Ridge Comprehensive Safety Action Plan to the Nelson County Board of Supervisors on April 8, outlining engineering and non-engineering strategies to reduce roadway fatalities and serious injuries.
Gorjan Gjorgjievski, a regional planner with the TJPDC, said the plan—developed with consultant Kimley-Horn and local partners—uses 2018–2022 crash data and public feedback to identify 13 emphasis areas and a high-injury network. "From 2018 to 2022, 173 people were killed on the County’s roadways," Gjorgjievski said, and "75% of the fatal, serious, and minor injury crashes occurred on just 7% of the County’s roadways." The plan offers spot-specific fixes on U.S. 29 and Route 151 (restricted-crossing U-turns, improved sight distance, turn-lane work, pavement markings), systemic measures (center-line rumble strips, edge-line treatments), and policy or programmatic tools (high-visibility enforcement, FarmZone education campaigns).
Board members discussed local constraints and priorities. Supervisor Jesse N. Rutherford asked for sensitivity to pedestrian access and emergency response near Lovingston’s Main Street and favored exploring alternatives such as routing northbound traffic to Tidbit Trail rather than closing crossovers; Board staff and the presenter said VDOT had been part of plan development and that the document can be revised based on local feedback. Adoption by participating jurisdictions by June 30, 2025 would position Nelson County to apply for SS4A implementation funding and other competitive grant programs.
Why it matters: the plan focuses limited implementation funds on corridors with the highest crash concentrations; adoption would open state and federal funding opportunities for construction and policy interventions.
