State Seeking Public Input on Several Major Road Projects
One is proposed for Route 17 in Spotsylvania and the others are for Mine Road and Truslow Road in Stafford. Also, Virginia DMV unveils reserved parking space for Purple Heart recipients.
By Hank Silverberg
CORRESPONDENT
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The public is being asked to weigh in on three big road projects in Spotsylvania and Stafford counties—all aimed at relieving traffic congestion and improving safety for pedestrians and motorists.
Route 17 in Spotsylvania
The Virginia Department of Transportation is doing a study along the Route 17 corridor in Spotsylvania between Massaponax Church Road and the Caroline county line. Much of the focus will be on intersections, where bicycle and transit access will also be reviewed.
According to a VDOT study from 2023, about 7,500 cars use this stretch of roadway every day.
Three potential designs are being looked at for the Route 17 and Tidewater Trail/Sandy Drive Lane intersection. Twelve crashes have occurred there between 2020 and 2024—three of them involving vehicles running red lights.
Widening the highway to four lanes in that area is one of the options being considered.
Widening Route 17 is also being considered at the intersection of Massaponax Church Road to Benchmark Road/Crossroads Parkway, where the presence of large trucks creates slow moving traffic during the morning hours.
The improvements are only in the design stage and have not been funded, but the public can find more information and provide input through an online survey between now and Monday, November 24.
Mine Road and Truslow Road in Stafford
VDOT is also looking for public input on two road projects along Mine Road and Truslow Road. This comes after community input earlier this year led to recommendations for potential improvement.
Mine Road is well traveled—traffic studies from 2023 show that about 20,248 vehicles travel the roadway between Garrisonville Road and Exeter Lane each day.
Among the suggestions is a proposal to change the configuration of the intersection at Mine Road and Midpoint Lane and at the intersection of Highpointe Boulevard, where a fatal crash occurred in 2021. Several options for reconfiguration are being considered. VDOT’s survey on the Mine Road project is here.
Also being considered in Stafford are changes along the Truslow Road corridor from Cool Breeze Way to Berea Church Road—necessary because the opening next year of the Stafford Plaza Drive extension serving two new schools (Hartwood High and Falls Run Elementary) will alter travel patterns in that area. See the proposals and provide input here.
These two surveys are also open until November 24.
Since all of these projects are in the design stage, and all have variations, there are no specific cost estimates available.
Reserved Parking for Purple Heart Recipients
The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles is adding a reserved parking space at all 16 of its service centers specifically for Purple Heart recipients. The Purple Heart is given to service members who were wounded in combat. The DMV’s action is part of a national Purple Heart Project which honors veterans and tries to raise awareness of the sacrifices made by those in uniform. The reserved spaces, which will be marked with signs, were unveiled on Veterans Day.
A spokeswoman for DMV said the spaces will be open to anyone with a Purple Heart and will be enforced by existing on-site security personal. But the spaces will work on the honor system. There are no apparent penalties for violations.
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