OUR VIEW: Kudos to woman for Route 3 leadership

Joanne Russell of Stevensburg called grassroots meetings in highway safety that may get results

This summer, we can expect the Virginia Department of Transportation to release plans for safety improvements along Route 3.

At least some thanks for that needs to go to Joanne Russell of Stevensburg.

Of course, safety along the two-lane stretch of Route 3 near Stevensburg has been an issue for a long time. That’s nothing new.

Six people have died in crashes along that stretch since 2007. The latest fatal crash — on March 22 — killed four people and seriously injured one.

Fed up with death on the highway, Russell called a neighborhood meeting that week to discuss the issue. A follow-up meeting was held April 23.

At the second meeting, VDOT engineer Donald Gore said a traffic study will be completed by Monday and the department will decide on short-term fixes after reviewing the data. Such improvements could include flashing lights, rumble strips, wider shoulders or more signage.

The long-term plan is to widen the road to four lanes, but that has been held up for lack of money.

We applaud Russell for her leadership role in this grassroots effort to get some kind of improvements on the highway.

***

Speaking of VDOT, the department recently cut six positions in the nine-county Culpeper District.

That certainly is bad news, but not as bad as it could have been. In that round of cuts, the department trimmed 230 jobs statewide. That means the Culpeper District didn’t get hit nearly as hard as some other districts in the state.

Still, that’s no consolation to the six people who lost their jobs here. We wish them luck and hope they can find employment soon.

***

It’s interesting that Congressman Eric Cantor, R-Richmond, is supporting a proposed Richmond-to-D.C. high-speed rail line after many of his high-ranking Republican colleagues mocked President Obama’s proposal for a national high-speed rail network.

Of course, the Richmond proposal essentially would be an extension of Amtrak’s already-existing Acela service, connecting Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston.