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By DAPHNE HUTCHINSON
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
Rappahannock’s Board of Supervisors has appealed to the county’s representative on the Virginia Highway Commission and authorized the board’s assistant, John McCarthy, to ask local representatives in the General Assembly for help in rerouting truck traffic from Route 522.
In response to pressure from local citizens and public officials, the Virginia Commission of Highways and Transportation closed Route 17 from Warrenton to Marshall to “through traffic” tractor-trailers until improvements to the road are completed. The closing came after the Commission reviewed accident statistics and determined that accidents were increasing on the eightmile section, according to Bob Moore, assistant engineer in the Warrenton residency.
He reported that “the bulk” of the rerouted trucks are “still coming through Warrenton via Gainesville” following signs posted by the Highway Department. Mr. Moore conceded, however, that a portion of the tractor-trailers traveling north /south on the Interstate 95 corridor are detouring through Rappahannock, using Route 522 over Chester Gap mountain.
And they could continue to use that alternate route for another three to five years. Mr. Moore projected that it will take as long as five years for improvements to Route 17 to be completed. The Highway Department is scheduled to accept bids this month for construction on the middle section of Route 17. “But there’s been a temporary delay due to lack of funds” for the start of work on Route 17 north of Warrenton to the area known as “The Attic” and the section that stretches from Route 245 to Marshall, Mr. Moore said.
Completion of the entire project — which must happen before the road is reopened to tractor-trailers —“hinges on the scheduling of those remaining sections, and that depends on funding.” The picture should be clearer after the General Assembly’s special transportation session this September, Mr. Moore added. “We’ll have to see what happens after all the smoke clears . . . the best thing we can do to resolve » the safety problems on Route 17 and * Route 522 for people in Fauquier
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