THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 31, 1997 TAG: 9701300145
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: THE ROAD WARRIOR
SOURCE: THE ROAD WARRIOR
LENGTH: 99 lines
The Virginia Department of Transportation has turned up the lights after dozens of complaints from commuters who swore they couldn't see while driving on Route 44.
A few enterprising souls even went so far as to count the lights that were out - one came up with 56 between Witchduck and Rosemont and another came up with 27 between Rosemont and Lynnhaven.
VDOT officials say there were exactly 50 lights out from Witchduck to Birdneck and that number includes both sides of the roadway.
Seems there were problems with blown bulbs and fuses. There are still a few lights out near the eastbound Witchduck Road exit and the area before Rosemont Road. Both of these areas have wiring problems and will take more work.
Anyhow, if it weren't for the light-counters, we'd probably still be in the dark. Good going.
SNARLS OF THE WEEK
The following people called Road's INFOLINE number with their complaints.
Michael Santos, no address given. I've got this major complaint. I think it's kind of stupid that they're sending people on a huge detour when they really don't have to in reference to the closure of SALEM ROAD. They're making people detour from South Independence to Indian River to Elbow Road.
They should have a detour from South Independence, making a left on Roundhill and another left at the end of Roundhill on Elbow Road, which takes them right to Salem Road.
They're making people go all the way towards Stumpy Lake when they really don't have to. So, this is nice news information for people. Thank you.
RW: You're right, Michael. Clearly, that is an option for traffic heading to Salem Road, which is currently closed between Ware Neck and Elbow roads.
However, engineers didn't recommend that route for detoured traffic because it's through several neighborhoods. They were more concerned with keeping the detoured traffic on major roads, such as Indian River, for safety's sake.
Naturally, that doesn't mean you aren't allowed to chose a route that's faster and open to drivers.
Bob Oakley, North End. I really appreciate your articles. Seems everyone is listening to you because I called in a couple of months ago on the speed bumps on ROUTE 44 heading east after the old toll plaza. A couple of weeks later they had them all cut down and it's pretty nice now.
Then someone wrote in about all the lights out on Route 44. I saw workers this week replacing the lights, so apparently somebody's listening to you and you're doing a good job. Keep it up.
RW: Hey, thanks, Bob. Just last week Road was called ``harsh'' and ``bitter'' by another reader.
Vern, Virginia Beach. At the intersection of HAYGOOD ROAD and FERRY PLANTATION, the caution light on the signal is only three seconds long and it causes a lot of accidents with people running the red light. We just had a fatality there and somebody needs to lengthen that caution light and save some lives. Thank you.
RW: Vern, Road understands the gist of your message and that is for safety's sake someone needs to adjust the light. However, the suggestion of extending the time of the yellow caution light won't work. Engineers do not lengthen the timing of the yellow light, instead they would extend the green or the red light and the yellow light would be adjusted appropriately.
Also, changing the timing of a yellow light is not going to stop people from running red lights. It'll just make more people think they have more time to get through the light before it turns red, possibly making the situation out there worse.
It seems this intersection was a topic of conversation not too long ago. Road will talk to engineers because Road believes a small adjustment was made out there at that time. Don't take that comment as the gospel, though, because Road is wrong once a year.
Mike Ammon, Pine Meadows. I have a question about ROUTE 44. The HOV lane heading east at the Rosemont Road exit has only a single dotted line. Everywhere else the lane has a double set of dotted lines. Is this some sort of road trap or is it that they haven't gotten around to painting them yet and are confusing us in the meantime?
RW: Believe it or not, Mike, transportation folks do not sit around trying to find a way to trap people or confuse them. Road thinks this single dotted line is single because the concrete barriers are there. Either way, it's still the HOV lane, whether it's a single or double dotted lines.
As long as there are dotted lines, things are A-OK.
Bill Keefer, no address given. I drive the trip from Hampton to Virginia Beach every day and in the HAMPTON ROADS BRIDGE TUNNEL people are beginning to change lanes a lot. I think it's extremely dangerous and maybe the tunnel people can keep an eye on it and stop those people that are doing it. Thank you.
RW: Sounds like there are only two answers to this problem - use some type of barrier so people can't change lanes (there's really no room to do this) or police enforcement. The tunnel folks really can't do much about it. They walk the tunnel but they're probably not too keen on the idea of hurling themselves at cars to stop them from changing lanes, which is what it would take.
Wayne, Kempsville Greens. On the topic of the shopping carts, I would like to add that the businesses don't want to pay for damage to automobiles from shopping carts because there's no telling where the damage actually happened. But, I think the businesses have the responsibility of going out there and cleaning up the parking lot of those carts that customers have left out there. They should hire somebody and send them out there to clean them up on a periodic basis, say every 15 minutes, and then write it off as a business expense.
RW: That's true, Wayne. There should be a real effort by businesses to get these carts out of the parking lot on a regular basis and most do.