The VDOT Concept for Vint Hill Road/215 & Route 29 Intersection says:
“The Hill nature of Route 29 at Route 215 limits sight distance of vehicles stopped ahead, resulting in a significant history of northbound rear-end collisions. A SMART SCALE candidate project to shave down the Route 29 grade did not score well enough on the congestion mitigation or safety measures to be funded. Instead, a “Michigan Left” concept converts the left-turn movements to right turns paired with downstream U-turns. The current signal location would be eliminated and replaced with signals at the two U-turn locations, which have better visibility and roadway geometery”.
Why this doesn’t work:
It is the belief of the stakeholders that the proposed “Michigan Lefts” would deter traffic to the businesses along the corridor. Local homeowners are concerned about the safety of making U-turns on a very busy highway, with no way to break the flow of traffic. Commuter traffic attempting to return home to the local communities would back up the U-turn lanes and further congest the corridor. Large vehicles such as semi-trailers, horse trailers, RV’s, and vehicles towing trailers or boats would have an almost impossible turn to make. Emergency Respondents would face a difficult maneuver with large fire trucks and decreased response times.
VDOT’s primary concern is moving through traffic through this section of the corridor quickly, however their concept leaves no consideration for the local community that needs reliable, safe access to Route 29.
To view a video of a vehicle attempting to turn onto Vint Hill Road from Route 29 South HERE.
To view a video of a vehicle attempting to turn onto Route 29 South from Vint Hill Road HERE.
To view videos of local stakeholders speaking at the Public Hearing meetings in opposition of the VDOT Proposed Plan view the Gallery HERE.