 | Residents of Donovan Drive in South Riding have put up their own traffic-calming measures while they petition for more permanent ones. -Times-Mirror Staff Photo/Raymond Thompson |
Residents of Donovan Drive in South Riding could soon have some much needed traffic calming measures on their street.
According to Shannon Levin, a Donovan Drive resident, she and others have been working for five years to get drivers to slow down.
The road connects Braddock Road with Edgewater Street in South Riding, so it is heavily traveled.
Drivers often speed across Donovan, creating a safety hazard for the community, Levin said.
The road has been the site of several traffic accidents, including one in September 2007 that involved a school bus at Donovan’s intersection with Edgewater.
Levin said homeowners along Donovan Drive have sent several petitions to the Loudoun County Office of Transportation throughout the years and finally got an on-site meeting with Virginia Department of Transportation officials in 2009.
The VDOT officials agreed that something needed to be done and told the residents they needed signatures from 75 percent of the homes on the affected streets.
According to an employee with the Loudoun County Office of Transportation who is working on the project and asked not to be named, the signatures have to come from a combination of residents from Donovan Drive and Quinlan Street. The reason, he said, is that Quinlan Street will also be affected by the traffic calming measures.
Since Quinlan branches off of Donovan and hits Edgewater, motorists could avoid traffic calming measures on Donovan by cutting over Quinlan. To avoid this, a stop sign will have to be placed on Quinlan in addition to the two that will be placed on Donovan.
The employee said he already has the signatures of the Donovan Drive residents and is just waiting on those from the residents on Quinlan Street. He also needs a quote from the development’s original engineer on modifying its original signage plans.
Once all this is received, the matter will be taken to the Board of Supervisors, which could approve the measures in 30 days or sooner.
From there, the proposal goes to VDOT, which is responsible for carrying out the plan.
Levin and the other Donovan Drive residents hope to get this finished sooner rather than later.
With a new middle school opening on Braddock Road in the fall, Levin said she anticipates seeing more and more cars on Donovan Drive.
“We feel a sense of urgency,” Levin said, “because more and more traffic keeps building on our street.”
Thanks for this wonderful blog. It really aroused my interest to go over and read it again.
Your article conveys to the knowledgeable minds of the readers.
As a mother of two young children and a south riding resident, I would NEVER allow my children to play in the front yard or anywhere near a roadway where they might “wander off a bit” without my immediate presence. I am sure you petitioners are the same ones who bring your kids to the pool and then go work on your tan or socialize while the lifeguards watch your kids. Parenting is a 24/7 responsibility, and no matter who or what hurt or killed your child, you would blame yourself for the rest of your lives. Changing the speed limit won’t make your kids any safer. Spending more time watching your children could save their lives though.
@Obvious: Do you even know the road of which you speak? It is not a major roadway. It’s a residential street where houses line each side it. Staying away from the road is impossible for the families living on it.
People constantly drive way over the 25mph speed limit. We have even seen cars traveling at very high rates of speed go around stopped school buses picking up children in the morning. There have been many one car accidents where speed was a factor (hitting parked cars, mailboxes, etc.) which has nothing to do with traffic but with speed. There is no way for children or adults to avoid an out of control, speeding car.
VDOT—please hurry up and implement traffic calming measures on Donovan before someone gets really hurt. This is a plea from a person who does not live on this street but is appalled by what is happening on it.
I live in Lucketts and have been trying for 15 yrs to get VDOT to lower our speed limit - I live on a 2 lane country road - its 40 mph, Good Lord RT 15 is 45 mph - cars travel much faster - our road “Lucketts Road” needs to be lowered from the fire dept - Sinclair Ln from 40 mph to 25 mph - nothing in life is worth taking a life - slow down people - I feel your pain South Riding - and whats sad is you will get your lower speed limit b4 our little road, why because you all have more $$$ than the residents of Lucketts!
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@Obvious
That still serves no right for the cars to be speeding down that road. Cars going 50 in a 25 with children outside is extremely dangerous. Maybe you don’t have kids, but if your not monitoring them 24/7 they will eventually wonder off a bit.
Residents in the area should teach their children to stay away from the road. Traffic volume is increasing at staggering rates across Loudoun and traffic accidents and or speeding should be expected. A little common sense goes a long way, keep your children safe and away from the road.
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