THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 22, 1996 TAG: 9601220036
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 204 lines
As a stretch of road, there may be no prettier place in South Hampton Roads. Lined with pines, gums and cedars, Shore Drive cuts a rustic path along the edge of First Landing State Park and its otherwise undisturbed landscape.
Pretty as it is, 12,700 vehicles cruise its path daily and 58 lives have been lost along the route since 1977. Small crosses bear solemn vigil at the places where children and loved ones died, usually in collisions with trees.
Now a $1 million plan to make the road safer, in part by cutting down 345 trees, has prompted an outcry from residents who believe the problem rests not with trees but inattentive drivers, some of whom were drinking at the time they were killed or injured.
Save the trees and enforce the traffic laws, they have pleaded.
``We're so quick to take down what takes so long to grow. Concrete cities are a dime a dozen,'' said Patricia B. Strait, a business professor at Old Dominion University. ``You'd think we'd want to be better than that.
``Cutting down the trees does not address the problem. You have to look at what causes the accidents. I don't think the trees are causing the accidents. It's a combination of the three most common factors: alcohol, racing and inattentiveness.''
Set squarely in the middle of this issue is the soft-spoken, tree-loving city traffic engineer, Richard H. Nettleton, who sees more passion than reason in the critics' complaints.
``There are a lot of misconceptions about what may take place,'' said Nettleton. ``Some people think that we're going to clear-cut the forest. That's not what we're doing. We are trying to re-establish a consistent clear zone at the edge of what is often a very unforgiving road.''
``When we're done, I don't think you'll notice much of a difference in the road,'' he added, standing along Shore Drive.
``See this canopy over the road? It's beautiful. We're not going to touch that.''
A study prepared for the city by Larsen Engineering Inc. deflects arguments made by opponents of tree-cutting, who see the issue as one strictly involving drunken drivers.
The study, released last month, analyzed 83 accidents reported from 1991 to 1994 on Shore Drive from 83rd Street to the Fort Story entrance. It showed that 38 percent of the accidents involved alcohol, while 64 percent of them involved a tree. Overall, 57 percent took place at night, and speeding was a factor in 19 percent of the accidents.
It was not possible to determine to what extent inattentive or drowsy drivers contributed to accidents, the report said, although those factors were thought to be under-reported.
From a traffic engineering standpoint, problems with the road abound. At night, it's nearly pitch black. No street lights line the stretch. In places, the road rises and falls unexpectedly with the topography, but it may be that the berms are most troublesome.
Often made of sandy gravel and compact dirt, the berms are considered a contributing factor in many accidents. The reason is tied to physics and driver habits.
A car traveling at 55 mph, the posted speed, moves about 80 feet per second. The road is 22 feet wide. If a driver suddenly leaves the road for whatever reason, he may correct the error by turning the wheels sharply to regain the road.
But the instant the car's front tires hit the pavement again, the driver may have less than a second to steer the car straight again before slamming into trees on the opposite side of the road.
To correct this and other problems, the study proposes several solutions in two phases.
The first phase calls for work on the westbound lane: building a 10-foot-wide right shoulder and a partial 6-foot median shoulder. This would require removing 342 trees.
None of the trees is especially old. All, in fact, have grown up after the land was cleared for the road - the westbound lane was built in 1961 and the eastbound lane in 1970. If completed, the tree line would be pushed back to 15 feet from the road's edge. In most areas, the trees are at least that far away already.
Engineers would then install ``rumble strips'' on the shoulders and guardrails along certain areas where ditches lie dangerously close to the road. The strips would alert drivers that they are veering off the road, giving them an extra moment to correct their course.
In areas where the road dips, asphalt would be added to make it even. The study recommends that police beef up enforcement of drunken driving and speeding laws.
The second phase is essentially the same except it would apply to the eastbound lanes. It would require the elimination of just three trees.
``We have some trees that are as close as eight feet to the road,'' Nettleton said.
``And in one instance, we have a tree six feet from the road. That's way too close. If this were a new road, we would have to go out 24 feet from the edge. But we don't have to do that here. The road is `grandfathered' in. This is a maintenance activity.''
Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf said she has received many calls and letters from citizens concerned about the trees' fate.
``It would be more appropriate to put the (rumble) strips down, add more reflectors, enforce the anti-drunk driving and anti-speeding laws and leave the trees alone,'' Oberndorf said.
``I consider Shore Drive to be the most exquisite in the city, and part of the beauty there is because of the trees,'' she added.
``The park is one of the crown jewels of the city, even though it belongs to the state.''
She said the public will have an opportunity to comment on the matter before the City Council votes Feb. 6 to proceed with the recommendations.
Councilman Robert K. Dean questioned the plan completely.
``Am I willing to take a million dollars of tax money and improve that road so that idiots who drive on it can have a better chance of survival than those who drive responsibly?'' Dean asked.
``I am not. I'll do it if the public asks me to, but I have not heard that.''
Using the same figures that illustrate the margin of error for drivers, Dean said increasing the distance of the tree line from the road's edge would not matter much for cars moving at high speeds.
``A car traveling at 55 mph travels at 80 feet per second; at 60 mph, it's 88 feet per second; and at 80 mph, it's 117 feet per second,'' he said.
``That means you'd have to cut the trees back all along the road either 80, 88 or 117 feet to allow them a margin of error. And that's for the first second.
``We've become a society that no longer wants to take any self-responsibility. No one is willing to answer for their own mistakes. I'm very saddened about the fatalities. It's a loss to the family. . . . But do we have to make the world as comfortable as possible for those people who are irresponsible? Is that the issue?''
Of all the opinions about the road, perhaps none are as poignant as those of parents who have lost children to accidents.
Jerry Drye, whose son, Stuart Tracy Drye, died Aug. 24, 1990, after a thunderstorm slickened the road, said he has mixed emotions about the proposals.
``Where my son died, a guardrail probably would have saved his life,'' Drye said. ``It was just west of the curve and there was a deep bank where the car he was in went down and hit some trees.
``Then again, if the tree had been gone, it's possible the car might have rolled over and the driver would have died as well.''
Still, Drye favors the rumble strips, better shoulders and a guardrail along the road's length.
As for taking down the trees, Drye said, ``I think it would be an acceptable solution, but given the causes of most accidents I don't think that would be the total solution. Most accidents that I'm familiar with have involved high speed, and moving the trees back might not help, but a guardrail might.''
Installing a guardrail along the road's length is not an immediate option because of cost, city officials said.
Vincent R. Olivieri, a Virginia Beach attorney, agrees that drivers are often the key factor in the accidents. He lost his daughter, Marianne, 15, in a daytime accident on the road April 13, 1994. She was one of two teenage passengers killed in the wreck.
``The problem with the road is not the road but the drivers,'' he said.
``I never found it personally dangerous. I think the danger comes when you break the rules.
``If they're talking about making the shoulders safer, then I certainly can't object to that. But if they're talking about changing the nature of the road, changing its scenic character, then they're probably wasting money.''
In the end, Olivieri said he would defer to traffic engineers to make the right decision because they are experts in making roads safer.
``I would look at the proposal as a road-maintenance issue,'' he said. ``That's an issue for experts to decide, much like they would when fixing a pothole. I'm not an expert.'' ILLUSTRATION: LEFT: A cross marks the site of a fatal accident on Shore Drive
in Virginia Beach.
STEVE EARLEY photos
The Virginian-Pilot
ABOVE: Traffic engineer Richard H. Nettleton doubts many people
would notice the absence of the 345 trees the city wants to remove
along the scenic road. The tree in front of him would be cut down.
Graphic
SHORE DRIVE ACCIDENTS
From 1991-1994, there were 83 accidents on Shore Drive, 10 of them
fatal. Nineteen people died. Drivers aged 21-30 accounted for 52% of
the accidents.
ACCIDENT SUMMARY
57% Occurred at night
38% Involved alcohol
64% Involved tree collision
63% In westbound direction
19% Involved speeding
SOURCE: The City of Virginia Beach, Traffic Engineering
KEN WRIGHT
The Virginian-Pilot
RECOMMENDATIONS
Phase 1: (Cost: $549,994)
In the westbound lane, install 10-foot, paved shoulder on the
right, and a 6-foot median shoulder on lane's left side.
Install rumble strips on shoulders.
Restore missing pavement markings.
Clear westbound shoulder to width of 15 feet on right and 10 feet
on left.
Install guardrail in median along areas with deep ditches.
Install milepost markers in both directions.
Install more oversized speed limit signs.
Continue police enforcement program.
Phase 2: (Cost: $509,131)
Install eastbound shoulders similar to those planned for
westbound lanes.
Future options:
Install guardrails continuously at edge of clear zones on
shoulders.
Install street lights.
KEYWORDS: SHORE DRIVE ACCIDENTS STUDY by CNB