Potential Talking Points: 

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See links below: 

• Ashcake Road

• Peaks Road

• New Ashcake Road

• Atlee Station Road

 

• New Ashcake Road – Not Recommended for Approval

  • Increasing vehicular traffic and congestion on this road will be exacerbated by increase in heavy trucking.

  • Intersection with Sliding Hill Road not designed for safe heavy truck turning movements to the east or west.

  • Intersection with US Route 301 not designed for safe turning movement from north Route 301

  • Heavy trucking impacted by and inhibits safe passage to and from the Pearson’s Corner Elementary School.

  • Heavy trucking safety will be inhibited by railroad crossing.

 

• Peaks Road – Not Recommended for Approval

  • Roadway pavement structure not designed for heavy truck traffic.  Limited lane width, lack of shoulders and other elements of this rural secondary not conducive to safe movements of heavy trucking.

  • Intersection at US Route 301 not designed for safe heavy trucking turning movements from north and south US Route 301.

  • Intersection with Sliding Hill Road not designed for safe turning movement from any direction. 

  • Roadway alignment and elevations not conducive for safe heavy truck traffic.  This is especially true at the railroad crossing where severe “S” turn and lack of shoulder does not allow safe passage for heavy trucking. 

 

• Ashcake Road – Recommended for Approval

  • Roadway pavement structure is not adequate for heavy traffic or heavy trucking. 

  • Turns by large trucks onto Ashcake Road from Sliding Hill and Lewistown Roads cannot be made safely due to limited turn radius.

  • The road is narrow and has little to no shoulder. Large vehicles passing is dangerous.

  • Curves do not allow for safe through movements at locations such as at Brown Grove Church.

  • The proposed Wegmans distribution center plans include an employee entrance at one of these curves that would add 1,400 vehicle trips per day (for 700 employees).

  • Limited visibility though the curved areas results in unsafe driveway/ parking lot exiting, particularly at the posted speed limit.

  • Traffic often does not follow the 35 MPH advisory speed limits (yellow signs) in these curves. Suggest the actual posted speed limit (white signs) of 45 MPH be reduced to 35 MPH and enforced by regular sheriff department monitoring.

 

• Atlee Station Road- Recommended for Approval

  • Roadway pavement structure, alignment and elevations not designed for heavy truck traffic to flow safely through corridor.

  • Increased heavy trucking would be unsafe given the elementary, middle, and high schools located directly on this roadway.

  • Increased residential development has already greatly increased traffic volumes.   Additional heavy truck traffic would add to congestion and safety issues. 

  • Certain turning movements at the intersection of Atlee and Atlee Station Roads are difficult and potentially unsafe for large trucks.

 

• Additional Considerations:

  • Current speed limits on all four roadways should be reviewed and revised to reflect current conditions, traffic volumes, accident rates, further planned developments, etc.

  • Roadway improvements should be made along all four roadways at locations where traffic flow and safety are constricted or limited due to inadequate turn radius, turn lanes, shoulders, pavement width and structure, alignments, etc.

  • All state agencies are required to include an environmental justice component to their projects and public responsibilities.   It is not apparent in the review and documentation provided by VDOT related to these four requests that environmental justice concerns factored into any of the approval recommendations.  

  • The VDOT documentation that supports the recommendations for each of these four roadways does not clearly convey details on how and why the roadways met or did not meet the criteria for “recommended for approval” or “not recommended for approval”.   This explanation MAY be provided to the public at the meeting.

  • The Hanover County listing of planned roadway projects over the next few years includes projects that may have an impact on these through truck restriction requests and the current VDOT recommendations to approve or not approve.  An example are the single lane roundabouts planned for both the intersections of Sliding Hill, Peaks, Ashcake and Mt. Herman Roads and for intersection of Ashcake and Lewistown Roads.   Heavy trucking may have difficulty moving through a limited circumference one lane round-about.  See the Road Project Funding Plan adopted by the Hanover Board of Supervisors on 10/13/21, item C under the Transportation heading at  Board of Supervisors Meeting (civicclerk.com)

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