VDOT: No Traffic Light Needed By New Schools

By Amber Lester Saturday, September 11, 2010

Travelers who encountered congestion at the intersection of Jolly Pond and Centerville roads this week will have to sit tight for the coming months.

Williamsburg-James City County Schools Facilities Management Coordinator Alan Robertson told the school board Tuesday that the Virginia Department of Transportation has denied requests to install a traffic signal light at the intersection, where traffic is expected to increase with the opening of two new schools. VDOT also denied the division’s request for a flashing light and a 25 mile-per-hour zone in the area of the schools; instead, VDOT approved a flashing light with a 45 mph zone.

“I was stunned and I argued it,” Robertson told the board. The division chose to order a flashing light for the recommended speed limit and will likely install the light in two-to-three weeks.

VDOT spokeswoman Nora Chivers says that after a traffic study was conducted, VDOT determined the intersection does not meet all the necessary criteria to warrant a traffic signal. Robertson strongly disagrees, and the board intends to lobby VDOT to revisit its decision.

When the division first proposed the construction of J. Blaine Blayton Elementary School and Lois Hornsby Middle School on the same plot off Jolly Pond Road, it intended to install a traffic light at the intersection. Recognizing that VDOT projects typically have variable timelines and funding, the division built nearly $200,000 into its budget to install the light, Robertson said.

The division retained Kimley-Horn and Associates, an engineering firm specializing in roadwork, to conduct a traffic study of the intersection, where two rural roads meet. Centerville’s traffic has increased in recent years, due to further residential development and the addition of new schools, including Warhill High School and a branch of Thomas Nelson Community College. Kimley-Horn’s study recommended the installation of a traffic light and its findings were echoed by the James City County Police Department and James City County government.

But VDOT disagreed, arguing a traffic light signal on a rural road could present more danger to drivers. The department first recommended building a roundabout at the intersection, because “they’re the safest and most efficient intersection treatment,” Chivers says. The county opposed the roundabout because it felt buses would struggle to maneuver the turns.

When VDOT conducts a traffic signal study, it examines the volume of traffic, the speeds, the presence of pedestrians, nearby residences, the population and more. The Jolly Pond and Centerville roads intersection didn’t meet the minimum criteria, Chivers says. In that instance, a signal could create more problems than it solves.

“People have the misconception that traffic signals automatically make everyone safer, but that is absolutely not the case,” she says. “Where a traffic signal is warranted, it absolutely, positively is a safety measure. When it is not warranted, it’s quite the opposite.” When signals are used unnecessarily, it increases the likelihood of fender benders and other collisions, she says.

VDOT’s signal authority officials met with county officials and came to an agreement that a police officer will be present at the intersection if traffic is a problem in the morning. Due to ongoing road improvements, however, James City County Capital Projects Coordinator Bernard Farmer ended up directing traffic in the afternoon this week, Robertson says.

Under Farmer’s direction, the county is adding right-hand and left-hand turn lanes onto Jolly Pond Road, along with leveling some grading problems in the intersection. The work was supposed to be completed by the opening of school, but was delayed because the cost of the work exceeded the original budgeted amount and had to be approved by the school board in August (read more here).

After receiving VDOT’s denial of a traffic signal light about a year ago, the division filed a request for a 25 mph flashing light on Jolly Pond Road – typical for school traffic zones, Robertson says. But VDOT denied that request, too, because its traffic study showed drivers wouldn’t slow down to drive 25 mph in that area. Chivers says VDOT generally clocks the slowest and fastest speeds during a traffic study and then comes up with an average speed that people will travel (in this case, people typically drive the speed limit of 55 mph).

“We thought it would be safer to bring it down 10 mph, partially because the other part of the traffic study showed there are no pedestrian walkways, and because it is an elementary and a middle school, there are fewer inexperienced drivers,” she says.

Robertson says he was bowled over by VDOT’s denial. “They said it was because it’s a rural road, it’s windy and big trucks travel up and down it … to us, that’s all the more reason [for a lower speed limit],” he says. “We all kind of took a deep gulp.”

At their Tuesday meeting, school board members expressed dismay at the situation. Member Ruth Larson said they had even sought the support of state Sen. Tommy Norment, who wrote a letter on the division’s behalf. “I’ve lived here most of my life and it’s a runway and I’m very concerned,” she said. “I’m floored that it’s 45 mph by those two schools.”

Fellow board member Denise Koch said that as a public official responsible for the safety of schoolchildren, she was disappointed in VDOT’s decisions. “I’m very disappointed in the agency and their responsiveness to us.”

VDOT has agreed to revisit the intersection and complete an additional traffic study once school has been in session for a few weeks. “We couldn’t do it by guessing. You can project, but we wanted to really let school get in session and do an additional traffic count,” Chivers says. The traffic study will begin once the county has substantially completed its work to add turn lanes.

Robertson says the division might have to pay approximately $20,000 for another independent study with Kimley-Horn. But he’s more disappointed that another three to four months could pass before any changes are approved. “We may be dealing with a real safety issue and real traffic,” he says.