The Shadow
On Friday, January 5th, 2024, the Virginian Review made a Facebook post around 5:30 p.m. regarding a tractor trailer that had become stuck after failing to navigate from Butternut Drive to Winterberry Avenue. Much to the surprise of our staff, the post seemed to blow up with concerns from residents who live on Valley Ridge Road, Butternut Drive, Winterberry Avenue, and the surrounding areas.
Most concerns we read through involved the overwhelming amount of times this same incident has happened in that area, where drivers seem to be looking for the Westvaco Truck Lot and find themselves continuing on down Valley Ridge Road, where signs are indeed posted to prevent tractor trailer drivers from venturing down Valley Ridge.
It was not too long ago that a tractor trailer drive took a drive down Valley Ridge, attempted to turn around in the parking lot of “Diesel and Heavy Equipment Services” and got stuck, causing traffic to be delayed for over an hour. However, residents in the area are saying that incidents like the one on January 5th happens as often as once or twice a week and concerns seem to resonate much higher than merely getting stuck and causing traffic delays. One person commented that her concern is for the children in the area and how these tractor trailers can become an immediate safety hazard for them.
The Virginian Review thanks you all for your comments and concern over this issue. It prompted us to get a reporter, Jennifer Bailey, on it that Monday who called to speak to a man at the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), explain the events of January 5th, and request an investigation into the issue. Bailey was pleased that VDOT seemed concerned enough to take her report and look into it.
Since her initial call, VDOT called to confirm their investigation had both been conducted and concluded. They said that they had sent a worker out on Valley Ridge Road to confirm that road signs were indeed posted alerting drivers not to continue down the road, saying there were “plenty of signs instructing drivers where to go.” The gentleman, Bailey said, was “professional and kind. He didn’t seem like he didn’t care. He just seemed confused that it happens as often as it does.”
Bailey had been talking the issue over with Carla Bowles, our office manager at the Virginian Review, to discuss how best to handle the situation once VDOT returned their call. Bowles and Bailey agreed it would be best to request a bigger sign be put up to avoid incidents like this in the future. Therefore, when the gentleman called back to confirm the signs were already there, Bailey requested a larger sign be put up, given the dangers it created for local residents and their children when tractor trailer drivers navigate down Valley Ridge Road.
We are happy to report that the gentleman assured us he would be getting together with his supervisor to put in the request. We can only hope, from here, that the request is met.
The Virginian Review wishes to thank everyone who commented on the initial post who brought awareness to this issue. We will be updating as we learn more from VDOT and will continue to follow up with this issue.
