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Student presents farm‑equipment safety project, asks county to install warning signs
Summary
Olivia Crewer, a Rortree High School junior, urged the Wythe County Board of Supervisors to support a farm roadway safety project that includes installing tractor and farm‑equipment warning signs at high‑risk locations and continuing public education to reduce collisions between motorists and slow‑moving agricultural equipment.
Olivia Crewer, a junior at Rortree High School, told the Wythe County Board of Supervisors on March 10 that her Girl Scout Gold Award project has grown into a countywide farm roadway safety effort that aims to reduce collisions between motorists and slow‑moving agricultural equipment.
Crewer described outreach work that included educational materials, a live tractor display at a community heritage day and conversations with local farmers about near misses on hills and blind curves. She said tractors and combines typically travel 15–25 mph on roads where posted limits can be as high as 55 mph and asked the county to install more tractor and farm‑equipment warning signs in high‑risk areas, citing Pampers Ferry Road, Blacklick Road and Old Stage Road as examples.
The board asked VDOT’s traffic representative to review Crewer’s submitted location forms. Mr. Swartz of VDOT said he forwarded her site-identification forms to traffic engineering, which will evaluate the locations and return recommendations; he said he or county staff will report the results back to Crewer and the board.
Board members expressed support for the project and encouraged Crewer to continue community outreach. Crewer said she has collected signatures and community input on where signs should be placed and that the Farm Bureau helped expand the project through local youth programs.
The board did not take a formal vote specifically to fund sign installation at this meeting; staff and VDOT were directed to review the suggested locations and return recommendations to the board.
