Lane Ranger: Tough to pinpoint dangerous spots

Dear Lane Ranger:

My daughter is currently working on completing her Driver Training program and she’s stumped. Can you tell me where we might be able to find a listing of the six most dangerous traffic intersections in Prince William County? We’ve searched the Internet, but have not been able to locate this information. We’ve tried the VDOT site, the Prince William County and police sites.  We even did a search on the National Transportation Administration site and we still can’t find what we’re looking for. 

Thanks,

Grace B. Kaleda
Lake Ridge

Dear Grace,

The traffic engineers at the Virginia Department of Transportation said this question is a difficult one to answer.

The transportation agency said they normally don’t provide this type of listing, but the local police department could, said VDOT spokeswoman Jennifer McCord.

McCord said crash rankings are based solely on the number of crashes at an intersection.

“For example, we expect fewer crashes at an un-signalized intersection; however these are usually angle-type crashes with a higher severity. At a signalized intersection we expect more crashes but they are usually rear-end type with property damage,” said McCord.

Other factors taken into consideration include the number of lanes on a particular stretch of road, what type of intersection it is, the amount of cars that typically use it and how the number of crashes at intersections similar to it compare to the number of crashes at another particular intersection, said McCord.

Russell Road to be widened at Quantico

Russell Road on Quantico Marine Corps base will be widened from Interstate 95, westbound to the Ponderosa Gate over the next 18 months. The widening is part of the federal base realignment requirements, or BRAC.

Quantico’s press information office said more information about the construction will be released over the course of the next 18 months. Questions about the construction should be directed to the officer in charge of construction at 703-703-6969.

VDOT to stream video of bid process

The Virginia Department of Transportation has taken another step in connecting the public to the agency’s contract bidding process.

VDOT has decided to stream live video of its construction and contact bid letting, online, so those interested parties won’t have to be present at their Richmond headquarters to hear bids.

“The online video streaming of the bidding process provides increased customer service to our contractors and subcontractors and will hopefully generate more competition,” stated Don Silies, state contract engineer, in a press release. “The more interested parties we can connect to this bidding information, the better.”

The agency typically opens and reads aloud to 20 to 39 contract proposals, that need to filled by contractors, each month. By using streaming video all interested bidders, contractors and suppliers can witness the process from their personal computer.

Construction and maintenance advertisements are posted on VDOT’s Web site and mailed to pre-qualified contractors each month.

To learn how to become a pre-qualified member, go to virginiadot.org/business/const/prequal.asp.

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