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One-way signs will help put a stop to collisions
 
Monday, May 05, 2008 - 12:08 AM Updated: 06:42 AM
 
Street Beat
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By STREET BEAT

Q:While traveling east on East Franklin Street between Third and Fourth streets, I do not see any signs at Franklin and Fourth indicating that Fourth is a one-way street. Why? I have no idea. I've seen more than one car heading south on Fourth -- the wrong way. A few weeks ago, someone turned from Fifth onto Franklin heading west (the wrong way) and collided with a car traveling east on Franklin. At least this is what I inferred after looking out my window to see the aftermath of the collision. -- Ned N.

Answer: I hate it when cars drive toward me the wrong way on a one-way street. Especially when there are dozens of them. You think all those people would pay more attention.

Anyway, I told the city about this. Spokesman Chris Dettmar said three one-way signs will be installed on Franklin Street from North Third to North Fifth streets.

Dettmar also reminds readers to report problems by calling the city's customer-care center at 3-1-1.

. . .

Q:Has anyone noticed the enormous pothole in the northbound lane at the south end of the Nickel Bridge? (For you new folks, that's the Boulevard Bridge.) There could not be a worse location for a pothole. You're diagonaling down Westover Hills Boulevard when, because the right side of the bridge is not in line with the right side of your car, you have to dogleg a bit to the left. Meanwhile, you have to keep an eye on the guy behind you and also the approaching traffic in the southbound lane, and then -- WHOA! -- an enormous pothole is dead ahead. What to do? Hit the brakes and be hit from behind? Swerve into oncoming traffic and be hit head-on? Or hit the pothole dead center and drive to your mechanic for yet another wheel alignment? -- Jo Ann C.

 

Answer: None of the above, I hope.

Marc LaFountain of the Department of Public Works says this pothole has been fixed.

. . .

Q:My sales job takes me to Northern Virginia every week for business. Traveling east on Interstate 64 from Staples Mill Road, I run the gantlet in my quest to reach Interstate 95 north. The four-lane merge is bad enough. What is worse is the ramp leading from I-64 east onto I-95 north. The posted speed limit is 35 mph, but I can tell you I would have more than one Ford F-150 in my trunk if I were to drive slower than 50. -- Neil L.

 

Answer: That's not the kind of spare you'd like to have in the trunk.

The 35-mph sign is an advisory speed for the ramp, said Taya M. Jarman of the Virginia Department of Transportation. An advisory speed is a suggestion, not a law. So although the state advises drivers to take the ramp at 35, obviously a lot of drivers do not.

An advisory sign is one in yellow and black. The true speed limit is what you see on white signs with black letters.


Do you have a question for Street Beat? Contact Patrick Owens at streetbeat@timesdispatch.com or (804) 649-6802.

 

 

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