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Police report details crash spike, $12,500 state grant for five traffic cameras
Summary
The town police gave a service report describing recent collisions, an officer departure and deployment plans for five state-funded traffic cameras; council discussed crash patterns at the South Boulevard–James River Road intersection and possible countermeasures including signage and engineering studies.
The police official opened the council meeting with a monthly calls-for-service summary that included two-vehicle collisions at the Valley/Scottville Road and James River Road intersection, a tractor‑trailer incident that took down power lines, a reckless-driver arrest in the Scottsville Shopping Center parking lot and one death at a residence.
The official told the council the department had "applied for and received $12,500 from the state police for the implementation of our 5 safety cameras," and said two of the cameras would be deployed at the police department this week with others planned for Irish Road and the Valley/James River Road area to monitor north‑ and southbound traffic.
Council members pivoted to a focused discussion of one intersection after the official presented multi‑year crash totals. "So we've had a total of 12 in the past 3 years," the police official said when summarizing local collision counts, adding that in the most recent 12 months there were five crashes that included non‑visible injuries. Councilors and residents attributed increases to higher traffic volumes, blind spots and possible distraction and pressed for low‑cost countermeasures such as clearer signage and flashing beacons.
Several council members noted larger engineering options could be costly. One member cautioned that a traffic signal can cost tens of thousands of dollars to install and carries ongoing maintenance, while others asked staff to contact a local traffic engineer to identify affordable changes such as marking, sight‑line improvements or a short‑term pilot of flashing signs.
The police official also told council an officer will leave the department after July 4th and staff will begin a recruitment and background process to fill the vacancy.
The council requested staff to return with cost estimates and a brief traffic‑engineering assessment for the intersection and to proceed with camera deployment and invoicing steps tied to the state grant.
The next procedural step is for staff to finalize camera deployments after the invoice is paid to enable the state reimbursement process.
