BY STEFANIE JACKSON BOWMANN, Eastern Shore Post —
Northampton supervisors on Tuesday, Sept. 10, passed a resolution requesting the Virginia Department of Transportation to form a long-term strategy to improve safety at a string of intersections on U.S. Route 13 near Cape Charles.
The county supervisors in July approved a VDOT Smart Scale project in the area, “which, I frankly have been thinking a lot about and have had a lot of comments about,” said District 1 Supervisor John Coker, who introduced the resolution that was passed Tuesday night.
The VDOT project that was previously approved involved the intersection of U.S. Route 13 and state Route 641, which is called Bayview Circle on the east side of highway and Parsons Circle on the west side, near the Northampton County YMCA.
If VDOT moves forward with the project, a concrete median will be placed diagonally across the highway divide.
This will allow northbound vehicles to turn left onto Parsons Circle and southbound vehicles to turn left onto Bayview Circle but prevent vehicles from traveling straight across the highway.
Betsy Mapp, chair of the Northampton Board of Supervisors, was doubtful that the project would improve road safety and voted against it.
Granville Hogg, a Cheriton-area resident, called the project a “travesty if there was ever one” during public comments at the Aug.16 supervisors meeting.
Hogg said, “We need to be looking at the whole picture,” pointing out that the intersection of U.S. Route 13 and state Route 641 is one of three intersections within a short distance.
There is also a traffic light at the intersection of U.S. Route 13 and Stone Road, which leads to Cape Charles, and another at the intersection of U.S. Route 13 and Country Place, the entrance to the Cape Charles Food Lion shopping center.
Further complicating the matter, in 2025 or 2026, VDOT will add a crosswalk for pedestrians and bicyclists at the Food Lion intersection as part of a public trail project.
A new Royal Farms also may be constructed just south of the shopping center, which will require yet another access point off U.S. Route 13 and possibly another traffic signal.
The section of highway is “getting a lot of traffic. The backups have been huge,” Coker said on Sept. 10.
The traffic backups are caused by vehicles traveling both north and south on U.S. Route 13, particularly in the summer, according to the resolution that Coker read aloud.
The affected area stretches from Kiptopeke Elementary School, to the south, and Cherrystone Road, to the north.
“VDOT has continued to allow multiple crossovers in this area to accommodate farming and business access,” Coker noted.
“There already exist three stop lights in this area, and our intent would be to maximize their operational efficiency,” he said.
Additionally, VDOT has maintained a speed limit of 55 mph on the stretch of road, “which we feel is far too high for this highly congested area,” Coker said.
He made a motion to approve the resolution, which was seconded by District 2 Supervisor Ernest Smith and passed unanimously.
