Fort Hunt Residents Want Help for Paul Spring Intersection
Officials say there is no need for traffic light, no money for turn lane.
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Al Horne has lived in Hollin Hills since 1964, and the increasingly heavy traffic on Fort Hunt Road makes venturing out from his Rebecca Drive home more harrowing every year.
Horne is one of a group of local residents who want improvements — preferably a traffic light — at the intersection of Fort Hunt and Paul Spring roads. “It becomes increasingly hard to enter Fort Hunt Road from Paul Spring, which is is essentially the only way onto Paul Spring from this community,” he said. “The traffic is moving faster every year, it seems to me.”
Paul Spring Road forms a three-way intersection with Fort Hunt Road between Belle View Boulevard and Sherwood Hall Lane, the only intersections featuring traffic lights on the stretch. There is no turn lane in any direction, sight lines are limited, and frustrated drivers turning right off of Paul Spring Road regularly break the law by using the road shoulder to make an illegal turn.
A Virginia Department of Transportation crash analysis found 14 crashes occurred there between 2006 and 2010. According to the Fairfax County Police Department, there were six reported crashes at the intersection between 2010 and February of this year, all rear-end incidents. Some Hollin Hall residents, however, say there have been five crashes there during the past year.
Paul Spring Road resident Irwin Goodwin said he had witnessed several crashes at the intersection and drives carefully when he approaches it.
“This has been going on for a long time, and it’s just getting worse because of what’s happening at Fort Belvoir and Route 1, and many drivers are taking Fort Hunt Road to get to Route 1,” he said.
Gail Weigl, who lives near the intersection, on Bedford Lane, wants to see a traffic light installed.
“I’m very concerned about that intersection,” she said. “We’ve had very serious accidents there. ... It’s just a terrible intersection.”
On Dec. 8, local residents held a meeting with Sen. Toddy Puller's office and a representative from VDOT, but it’s doubtful changes to the intersection will be coming anytime soon.
Both a 2010 VDOT analysis and a recent study found the intersection did not warrant a traffic light, as most crashes involved northbound vehicles turning left off of Fort Hunt Road onto Paul Spring Road. VDOT noted that a northbound left turn lane may help the situation, but that funding would need to be prioritized through the county.
VDOT did agree to move the stop bar and crosswalk on Paul Spring Road closer to the intersection to improve the sight line.
An aide for Mount Vernon District Supervisor Gerry Hyland declined to comment on the intersection, saying the state government handles roads.
State Del. Scott Surovell (D-44th District) said there was “absolutely no money to do anything in terms of roads in this state until we do something about the revenue situation.”
“Fairfax County’s secondary road allocation in the year I was elected was $28 million, and the year after I was elected it was 1,800 bucks,” Surovell said. “And now it’s zero, and its going to stay zero unless either the money fairy comes or taxes are increased.”
If money does become available, he said, here’s a chance a turn lane could be installed.
State Sen. Toddy Puller (D-36th District) said the intersection was not ideal but saw no chance for a light to be installed because it’s not a four-way intersection.
“Until we have more money for transportation, not much is going to happen at all on transportation in our area,” she said.
Horne, the Hollin Hills resident, has another idea.
“I think that given the state of the state and county budgets and resistance of the police, a reasonable alternative to putting a traffic light there would be to put up a speed gun and a sign telling people how fast they’re going,” he said. “Because that would make an impact.”
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Dawnomac
2:24 pm on Friday, March 30, 2012
The state and county both have a responsibility to keep people safe. Everyone is voting for huge development projects in the area with no regards to families that live here and that pay taxes. I honestly think its sad that our lives arent important enough to make a change. Either limit traffic into this area by logistical means, put in safety measures, or stop all of this over development. Perhaps pass the tab onto these developers who obviously have zero clue or maybe the politicians should be charged for making bad decisions.
Jennifer Coffey
8:53 pm on Saturday, March 31, 2012
How about making this intersection a three way stop? Two more stop signs on Ft. Hunt Road and two "stop ahead/ reduce speed" signs 100 yards out. Problem solved.
Oh Please, no money for a stop light. Just another excuse not to take any action at all.
cmvoorhees
9:44 pm on Saturday, March 31, 2012
Certains times during the rush hour, cars are not moving fast but impede the Paul Spring driver's view of Fort Hunt traffic going north. A dedicated left hand turn would help move traffic along Fort Hunt Road, but would not solve the problem for the folks coming out of Hollin Hills at Paul Spring Road. There have been serious accidents around that intersection that bring emergency vehicles in to take injured persons to the hospital and these accidents occurred after the 2010 study.
Southbound cars on Fort Hunt also stop for cars trying to turn left onto Marine Drive. And at least one serious accident appeared to be connected to the Marine Drive and Fort Hunt Road intersection.
Keeping people safe should be a priority.
monkeyrotica
9:50 am on Sunday, April 1, 2012
Meh. I live off Paul Springs and never had a problem at that intersection. Better to put a light at Alexandria Ave and Fort Hunt. It's impossible to cross at rush hour: people come screaming around on southbound Fort Hunt or over the rise northbound. Dead Man's Curve on one side, blind hill rise on the other. Or put a speed camera there to get idiots to slow down.
Alanna
11:18 am on Monday, April 2, 2012
Monkeyrotica, you're talking about Hollin Hall's Paul Spring Parkway, not Hollin Hill's Paul Spring Road. It's easy to get them confused. Heading North on Fort Hunt, I've been caught off guard by stopped traffic waiting to turn left onto Paul Spring Rd and came close to rear-ending someone. I like Cathe's suggestion for adding a dedicated left hand turn, so traffic flow is unobstructed.
Rachel Leonard
3:20 pm on Monday, April 2, 2012
The following comment was submitted by reader m.tracy, who was having technical difficulty in posting her comment:
"The Ft-Hunt/Paul Spring intersection (by the Hollin Hills entrance and Swim Club) is the only crossing between Belleview Shopping Center and Sherwood Hall lane without turn lanes. It is more dangerous than many others because the lanes are very narrow (at 11 feet each direction—measured yesterday--, well below accepted design standards). The curve on Ft Hunt (with a dangerously deep ditch along the northbound lane), blocks sight for cars coming from the south / leaving or turning into Paul Spring road (on Paul Spring, drivers' sight lines are actually below the level of Ft Hunt rd). And who will forget the hundreds of political signs urging the reelection of our State representatives that made that stretch even more dangerous last fall? Added to this, there are no streetlights on Paul Spring Road for a full block, so cars trying to turn in at night have difficulty gauging the sharp turn (and yes, accidents have occurred turning in, though VDOT did not count them in its study)."
Rachel Leonard
3:21 pm on Monday, April 2, 2012
Here is more of the comment from m.tracy:
And what about the bus stop just before the curve on northbound Ft Hunt? Riders have to stand in someone’s driveway because there is no shoulder whatsoever at that point. It’s amazing no one has been killed there (though it appears that a mail box has been knocked down just one house away).
Drivers exiting Paul Spring find their sight lines to right hampered by telephone poles, signs, trees, and all too frequently, by the drivers who break the law and go up on the shoulder to turn right because they are tired of waiting (waits of up to three minutes in heavy traffic periods)."
Rachel Leonard
3:21 pm on Monday, April 2, 2012
More of the comment from m.tracy:
"In fact, every car entering Ftt Hunt has to break the law because stopping behind the white line provides minimal visibility in either direction.The dangerous configuration is exacerbated by speeding along Ft. Hunt. (speeds seem to be between 40-50 mph most times of the day, far too fast for this narrow road with no shoulder .)
And where are the Police? A request to have the police monitor this intersection went unanswered for more than four months, and then a brief response said that a police officer had found no problem. Never mentioned is the fact that there has already been one death near that intersection, but this was not even shown on the VDOT records. "
Rachel Leonard
3:22 pm on Monday, April 2, 2012
More from m.tracy:
It appears that many of the accidents (including one observed less than a month ago, are not even reported. (VDOT’s 2010 study, the only one done, stated that there had been only three accidents between 2006-10—though it has since been revealed that there were at least 14 between 2006 and May of 2010.)
Interestingly, if, as the Patch article stated, the Police are now saying there were six accidents between 2010 and February of this year, why hasn’t this list been provided to VDOT or to the group of citizens who have been seeking action on this issue.
Contrary to Supervisor Hyland’s claims that the problem is the responsibility of the state, under Va. Law (as we learned from VDOT at our December meeting), the County, not the State. is responsible for secondary roads with lanes less than 24 feet wide (see Va § 33.1-41.1, which defines standards for state payment to localities for maintenance of certain highways ). The Fort Hunt/Paul Spring intersection does not meet the minimum requirements of lane width, right of way, etc."
Rachel Leonard
3:22 pm on Monday, April 2, 2012
The last of the comment from m.tracy:
"
All of these facts are well known to our Supervisor, whose reluctance to exercise leadership in addressing a very serious public safety problem is inexplicable. Delegate Surovell has stated that “the safety of our community and improving transporation is my primary concern”.
It would seem that , if they wanted to, our elected officials could combine their political talents to ensure that their motto “yes, we can” means something to their constuents."