Lane Ranger: A problem on Linton Hall at Bristow Village?

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I have a question about the stop light on Linton Hall Road at the entrance to the Bristow Village Shopping Center, near Va. 28 in Bristow.

On the surface it seems there is a reasonable necessity for the light, but many times I have noticed a problem with the intersection.

During both day and night traffic needing to make a left turn from Linton Hall Road into the shopping center must wait for a long amount of time before the driver gets a green turn light, while no cars are coming from the opposite direction.

It seems like this would affect business in that area.

Stanley Collins

Bristow

Dear Stanley,

We took your question to Mike Salmon at the Virginia Department of Transportation and he said this signal has been constructed as a part of the road widening project on Linton Hall Road, and added the project isn't complete yet.

As of today, Salmon said, the project manager has been notified and asked to have the contractor confirm proper operation of the vehicle detection at this signal.

This signal is located very close to the traffic signal on Va. 28 at Linton Hall, said Salmon.

Due to the proximity of the two, this signal has been set up to operate under coordinated control with the other.

When operating under coordinated control, this intersection runs a half-cycle program -- meaning that it will cycle twice for every cycle of the Va. 28 signal, he said.

The cycle lengths currently in use range from 70 to 100 seconds, depending on the timing plan being called. Salmon also said the weekend coordination program was removed, thus allowing the controller to be more responsive to actual vehicle demand.

This means it will be allowed to change more frequently than before on weekends and won't be tied to the cycle being used on Va. 28.

The weekday programming has been retained, but will be reviewed as a part of our Prince William West network re-optimization.

As its name suggests, Salmon said the PWW network is made up of those signals in western Prince William, includ-ing the areas of Haymarket, Gainesville and Manassas.

The PWW network review, complete with any recommended timing changes, is expected to be finished by the end of May, said Salmon.

It is possible that free operation may also be instituted here during the weekdays, this based on preliminary review of traffic volumes that have been collected.

Salmon also offered the following signal light explanation:

For timing and optimization purposes, the signals throughout our region are broken up into networks or groupings based on traffic volumes, roadway characteristics and one signals proximity to another.

For the counties of Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William, 21 networks have been developed, with others that exist further to the south completing the signal groups within VDOT's Northern Region.

Within each network, sub-groupings of signals have been developed.

For all networks, four distinct weekday timing plans specifically designed for that network or sub-group (corridor) are used covering both rush hour time periods, along with separate plans for the midday and off peak.

In addition, weekend timing plans (four also) have been developed and are in use.

Dear Lane Ranger,

The corner of Linton Hall Road and Limestone Drive in Gainesville is an accident waiting to happen.

With Gainesville Middle School and a commuter parking lot on Limestone Drive, plus the normal amount of traffic on this road, things can get pretty congested when trying to turn onto Linton Hall Road.

Turning right onto Linton Hall from Limestone is bad enough, but turning left with all of the oncoming vehicles from both directions is almost impossible.

A 3- to 5-minute wait is the norm, and it doesn't even matter what time of day it is.

Is the county waiting for a bus load of children to get hit before they do something?

Would you please check into this intersection for all of us who have been stuck at this corner?

Thank you,

Susan Marti

Bristow

Dear Susan,

We took your question back to Mike Salmon at the Virginia Department of Transportation, and he provided us a bit more insight on the issue of corner of Limestone Drive and Linton Hall Road.

Salmon said the developer is responsible for putting a traffic signal at this intersection.

VDOT sent preliminary comments to them in January to the design they submitted, but have not received revised plans yet, Salmon added.

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