Changing conditions

By Published by The Editorial Board

Published: December 1, 2008

People living along U.S. 58 east of Danville are worried that traffic is moving too fast for the buses that transport their children to and from school — and they want something done about it.

They claim the posted speed limit of 55 mph is regularly ignored by drivers. In response, Dan River Supervisor James Snead said he plans to ask the Board of Supervisors to pass a resolution supporting a 45 mph speed limit along that stretch of road.

“They fly down through here nonstop,” said Tammy Cassada, who lives in the 4500-block of South Boston Highway. “You see how fast these trucks are going — they don’t care.”

While lowering the speed limit may help improve safety on that stretch of U.S. 58, an argument could be made that if they won’t slow down for the 55 mph speed limit, they won’t slow down for 45 mph. Getting drivers to respect the speed limit may mean getting deputies and troopers to write more speeding tickets.

Done consistently and regularly, that could — over time — convince drivers of the importance of driving the speed limit as school buses are carrying children through the area.

One of the ironies of this story is that there is a plan on paper that would, if it were ever built, divert traffic from the Danville Expressway to Route 62 on a new road. The so-called “Southeast Bypass” has been proposed specifically to alleviate traffic congestion along U.S. 58 east of Danville.

The bypass shows up in a September 2004 report by the Danville Metropolitan Planning Organization that looked at the region’s road needs in 2030. The Southeast Bypass, which is envisioned to be a new, four-lane limited access road, would cost more than $100 million — and probably a lot more — and would connect the bypass to Route 62.

But it’s one thing to put a road project on a transportation wish list — which is where the Southeast Bypass is today — and another thing to get a project funded. Virginia faces a severe cash crunch that threatens projects that have been in development for decades.

The response to problems like those facing the parents and children along U.S. 58 east of Danville is typically the same — drivers have to adjust for the existing road conditions. That response is born of the fact that most problem roads will stay as they are for a long time.

In the meantime, something has to be done to make U.S. 58 safer. Lower speed limits, more speeding tickets or just better lights and warnings are all possibilities. Any of those are preferable to what could happen if the traffic doesn’t adjust for those buses and their precious cargo.