U.S. 29 not so pedestrian friendly

I wait at the intersection of Rio Road and U.S. 29 and watch.

There, directly across the acre-long stretch of pavement, stand a man and woman on the far bank of the traffic stream, which runs like whitewater rapids out of town in both directions.

They look both ways, heads turning like pendulums on cuckoo clocks, waiting for traffic to dam up behind a traffic light so they can sprint across the road.

“There’s no easy way to cross that road,” Cpl. Sean C. Hackney, of the Albemarle County Police Department’s traffic division, said recently. “There’s no crosswalk and, even if there was, the road for all practical purposes is an eight-lane divided highway with a median strip and left and right turn lanes. That’s difficult for pedestrians.”

Scurrying for safety

You can say that again. This couple is going nowhere. Cars turning right from Rio onto northbound U.S. 29 blast past and send them scurrying curbside to safety.

You can’t really blame the cars. It’s hard to find a state law that directly impacts the intersection. The law says the drivers have to yield the right of way to pedestrians who cross at marked crosswalks. There are none.

The law says drivers have to yield to walkers at intersections on roads where the speed limit is 35 mph or less. U.S. 29’s limit is 45.

“U.S. 29 is dangerous for pedestrians all up and down that stretch and it’s getting worse,” Cpl. Hackney said. “We’ve had a couple of fatalities out there and the conditions by themselves can be pretty difficult. I watched a guy try to cross U.S. 29 at Hollymead Town Center and, as if traffic wasn’t bad enough, the grass in the median was up to his waist.”

The couple has moved down the road a little, far enough from the intersection to see the right-turners before impact. That, unfortunately, makes it harder for the turners to see them.

The light changes and the couple grab hands and sprint to the median. As traffic flows again, they are stranded on what is literally a traffic island.

Several struck

There’ve been several walkers struck trying to get across the road at intersections from Hollymead to Best Buy. On Christmas Day 2008, a 19-year-old woman was killed when she tried to cross the highway near Westfield Road, not too far from the Waffle House.

In one case, accident reconstruction showed the striking vehicle traveled at legal speeds and the pedestrian crossed legally. The problem was that it was dark and, as the pedestrian entered the road, the vehicle was in a depression in the road. Neither the walker nor the driver could see the other until it was too late.

“Under Virginia code there are limited regulations for pedestrians crossing roadways. Pedestrians are not allowed to step into a street where a driver’s vision may be obscured, and there’s a regulation that gives pedestrians the right of way at intersections where sidewalks are continuous on both sides of the road. Sometimes, both of those occur,” Cpl. Hackney said.

A hole in traffic appears and the couple run across the southbound left turn lanes and wait as two right-turners out of Pizza Hut come too close for comfort. Then they walk into the first southbound lane as a left-turning vehicle pulls out from the light of Albemarle Square and accelerates behind them. Then they spring to the relative safety of the sidewalk and continue down Rio Road.

My light turns and I carefully drive through the intersection and take an immediate right into my destination, Wachovia Bank.

It’s only a block from my office, but you bet your sweet seatbelt I’m driving.