VDOT to City: a roundabout or nothing

Here is an interesting letter (PDF) from State Highway Safety Engineer Michael B. Sawyer to the Director of Public Works, Dexter White. The letter — dated June 18, 2009 — addresses some of the concerns the neighborhood and Councilman Hilbert have raised. Here are some juicy quotes: Over the past 15 years, we [VDOT & the […]

July 1, 2009; 5:04 PM • by North Richmond News

Here is an interesting letter (PDF) from State Highway Safety Engineer Michael B. Sawyer to the Director of Public Works, Dexter White. The letter — dated June 18, 2009 — addresses some of the concerns the neighborhood and Councilman Hilbert have raised. Here are some juicy quotes:

Over the past 15 years, we [VDOT & the Virginia’s Highway Safety Improvement Program (HISP)] have formed a valued partnership with the City of Richmond through a cooperation and mutual trust that has resulted in nearly $20 Million dollars of safety improvements throughout the City of Richmond. The results are astounding; through your engineers’ expertise, there are approximately 1,500 fewer deaths and injuries on the streets of the City of Richmond.

Per the HISP agreement dated 6/9/2008 between the Department [VDOT] and the City of Richmond, the only safety improvement which has been granted is to construct a roundabout … If another solution is selected, any expenses to date would not be covered by the FHWA [Federal Highway Administration]and the agreement would be void.

In 2003, House Join Resolution 594 was adopted to encourage the use of roundabouts in Virginia. Since July 2008, when VDOT revised the Road Design Manual for Virginia, roundabouts are Virginia’s preferred intersection design.

This particular safety project is behind schedule. As one of the top five worst intersections in the City, we rely on your staff to complete this safety improvement such that the citizens can experience the project’s benefits of reduced injury and potential for death from motor vehicle crashes … We strongly urge your timely construction of this project as it is in the citizens’ best interests from a safety and mobility perspective.

One of the factors that we consider in selecting and funding grant applications is the [sic] evaluating the leadership advocacy of the jurisdiction to support the safety countermeasure. The current project delay mention in #3 speaks to this issue. By terminating this agreement, future HISP funded projects may be in jeopardy as the City would not be as in strong standing as previous years with this blemish on the City’s HISP performance record.

All emphasis mine.

Again you can download the letter here (PDF) and read it in its entirety.

July 1, 2009 5:04 PM 0