YORK COUNTY, Va. — Drivers are sounding off about this busy intersection, and an intersection they said can get dangerous at times.
According to the DMV's Traffic Records Electronic Data System, there have been 53 car accidents at Denbigh Boulevard and George Washington Memorial Highway since 2015. That's not counting two from last Saturday, which puts that number at 55. That's an average of 11 crashes a year.
Ann Wolf works off Goodwin Neck Road, so she comes through the intersection every day.
“Later in the day it gets worse,” Wolf said. “People in a hurry trying to beat the light.”
She said in 20 years, she's seen her share of crashes. She also said traffic backs up on this road quite often.
A VDOT spokesperson said VDOT is in the early design stages of the next phase of the Route 17 Widening Project starting from where the first phase left off just north of Lakeside Drive, as well as improvements at Route 17 and Denbigh Boulevard.
VDOT has also got requests in the past year about signal timings at the intersection.
Route 17 is programmed in an “adaptive traffic control” operation. This type of operation allows the traffic signal controller to adjust the service of movements based on the immediate vehicle demand. Unlike other corridors where drivers are used to being serviced at a specific time in the cycle, Route 17 continually adjusts both the signal green time and when each movement is serviced.
This flexibility allows the controller to reduce the overall delay of the intersection and corridor. To help with vehicle detection, motorists should make sure they are pulled all the way up to and stopped at the stop bar.
The spokesperson said traffic technicians are monitoring the signal system at the intersection to make sure everything is working properly and haven't had any issues in recent months.
Wolf still believes something needs to change to bring accident numbers down and keep drivers safe.
“If the light lasted longer, it would be better because you can only get two cars through a cycle,” Wolf said.
If citizens ever have a concern or request for a state-maintained road, they should notify VDOT, so that we can review and address any issues as soon as possible, by contacting our 24-hour Customer Service Center by phone at 1-800-FOR-ROAD (1-800-367-7623) or by visiting https://my.vdot.virginia.gov.