ACCOMAC, Va. (Delmarva Now) -- The public can comment through June 28 about planned safety improvements at two trouble spots on Route 13 in northern Accomack County.
The projects, which will cost an estimated $2.8 million, include installing a traffic signal, speed reduction measures, additional signage, lengthened turn lanes and surface treatment at the intersection of New Temperanceville Road and Route 13.
Additionally, highway access to Old Temperanceville Road, which is just south of New Temperanceville Road, will be closed off and a physical barrier will be installed in the median.
"We are going to put a signal there, and curbing from the median all the way back past the Old Temperanceville (Road) — (and) we are going to close that off," said Project Manager Nancy Marshall of Virginia Department of Transportation.
At the T's Corner intersection, where Chincoteague Road intersects with the highway, wider edge lanes, lighting, shoulder rumble strips and curbing along the T's Corner property are planned.
Additionally, the number of entrances from the highway to a strip of businesses will be reduced.
"At T's Corner, we are going to add curbing to keep the traffic from cutting across his parking lot, and we are going to add lighting to the intersection," Marshall said.
Construction on the two projects should get underway in summer 2020, she said.
Route 13 sees on average daily traffic of 19,578 vehicles, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation.
The two intersections were among several areas of the highway identified in a 2016 safety study as needing safety improvements.
At or near the Temperanceville Road intersection, the study found there were 38 crashes during the five-year period from 2010 to 2014, of which 37 resulted in injury or fatality. Three crashes there were fatal.
Among key concerns at the intersection is a curve to the south which limits drivers' sight distance and reduces their ability to maintain control at high speeds, the study found.
At the T's Corner intersection, 58 crashes occurred In the vicinity of the intersection in the five years. Of those, 28 resulted in injury. The primary crash types were rear end (47 percent) and angle crashes (31 percent).
The study included a comparative analysis of current crash and other highway data with data from a 2002 study, along with a detailed study of 25 locations of particular interest due to the number and severity of crashes that have happened there.
Five years of data was analyzed for the study, including more than 1,500 crashes that happened in various locations along the 69-mile Route 13 corridor in Virginia.
People can view where crashes happened, as well as what factors may have been involved, thanks to an interactive map the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles Highway Safety Office has on its website, which covers the entire state.
The Virginia Department of Transportation held an open-house style meeting June 18 at Arcadia High School to give residents a chance to review the proposed improvements at the two intersections.
Comments are still being accepted.
People may submit comments by June 28 to Nancy Marshall, VDOT Project Manager, 1700 North Main St., Suffolk, VA 23434 or by email to Nancy.Marshall@vdot.virginia.gov, or call 757-925-2500.
The plans for the projects may be viewed at VDOT's Accomac Residency.
