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By Don Audette
Rappahannock News Writer
If you drive US 211, Route 522, Route 231, or Route 729. you had better read this. The Virginia General Assembly, now is session, is working on a bill (SB-822) to ban tractortrailer trucks from a segment of Route 17 between Route 50 and 1-66, e.g., from Paris through Delaplane. The rest oi Route 17 is unaffected.
The reason for banning the trucks is accidents there last year, plus an increase in truck traffic. Road counts for 1999 show an estimated 12,000 vehicles a day on that stretch of Route 17. Last year, it was estimated that 3,000 to 4,000 trucks were on that road daily.
By comparison, Route 522 near Flint Hill, in 1999, had 3,600 vehicles a day, with about 36 of them being tractor-trailer trucks.
If passed by the Virginia General Assembly, SB-822 may cause an increase in tractor-trailer trucks or Rappahannock County roads.
VDOT feels that most truck traffic using Route 17 is heading toward 1-95. VDOT is working with the trucking industry to redirect big rig traffic so truckers use Route 522 outside of Winchester to I66 and thence to the nonbanned part of Route 17. If all truckers followed this advice, there would be little impact or Rappahannock County.
However, many truckers may be heading toward Route 29 instead of 1-95. If so, truckers might continue down Route 522, through Front Royal to Chester Gap and down to Flint Hill. From there, they might fan out over the county, using it as a short
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