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VDOT to study Rockville Road safety after residents raise emergency‑response and sight‑line concerns
Summary
Following resident complaints about line‑of‑sight and emergency access, staff requested a VDOT safety study for Rockville Road; VDOT will perform the work in‑house at no cost with an expected three‑month timeline and an October deliverable, after which recommended mitigations (signage, engineering) will be considered for the county priority list.
Peterson County staff told supervisors on July 2 that they requested VDOT perform a targeted safety study of Rockville Road after numerous constituent emails raised concerns about sight lines, speeding, and emergency‑vehicle access.
The transportation manager said the last formal study was completed in 2016 and noted some recommendations from that study appear not to have been implemented in the field. Staff asked VDOT to focus on three specific issues: signage, speeding, and the entrance at Thunderbird (including developer‑proposed grade changes). VDOT traffic engineering will conduct the study in‑house at no cost to the county and staff said they expect the completed study by October (roughly a three‑month timeline).
Residents urged action during public comment. Linda Moore, a District 4 resident, said line‑of‑sight problems and concerns about fire and rescue access make the corridor unsafe: "When the fire and rescue tells me that they're going to have a real problem getting in and out of there, we need to listen." Margaret Levitt asked the board to reassess the Tuckahoe Bridge North entrance and criticized prior traffic impact analyses that, she said, underestimated truck traffic for an approved development.
Staff said potential outcomes from the VDOT study include updated signage or low‑cost measures that VDOT can implement quickly; if construction‑level improvements are recommended, the county will need to consider funding and prioritization through the CIP or developer obligations. The transportation manager said any recommended construction improvements would be evaluated for cost, funding source, and eligibility for existing project funding pots.
Next steps: staff expects the VDOT study in hand by October and will return with results and proposed next steps for signage, short‑term measures, and any recommended capital projects.
