A construction worker standing in the crosswalk at the intersection of Tidewater Trail (State Route 2) and Glendas Way on Tuesday afternoon caught the eye of Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors representative Lori Hayes.
“This guy is standing there clearly waiting, and people just keep going,” Hayes said. “Your head has to be on a swivel when you’re there.”
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is striving to make improvements to the intersection, which has seen more than 300 crashes since 2019. There were six fatalities from 2023-24, including four pedestrian deaths. Two fatal accidents in May 2024 pushed Hayes to implore VDOT to act.
The transportation agency is constructing a traffic light at the intersection that Hayes said may be unsightly for a while but will ultimately improve safety in the area. Warning lights will begin flashing Sept. 2 before the full traffic light is operational later in the week.
The lights will be held up by wooden poles and span wire as a temporary fix until a permanent structure with steel poles is put in place a few years from now.
“My constituents are very happy about this,” said Hayes, who represents the Lee Hill District. “Understandably so, they’re frustrated it took this long … People are getting killed here. That’s why we have to do this interim measure.”
Kelly Hannon, VDOT’s Fredericksburg District communications manager, said Spotsylvania County submitted a project application and secured funding in the 2024 round of Virginia’s SMART SCALE transportation funding program for improvements at Tidewater Trail and Benchmark Road, which is approximately 1,000 feet away from the Glendas Way intersection.
Hannon said the application sought funding to add turn lanes and through lanes at the Benchmark Road intersection, but also included pedestrian improvements at Glendas Way and Briarwood Lane.
One issue at the Glendas Way intersection, said Hayes, is the lack of a rest area in the median of the crosswalk, forcing pedestrians to attempt to scurry across the busy highway. Hannon said that concern will be alleviated once the entire project is complete.
“The project outlined plans to add a median between the northbound and southbound lanes of Tidewater Trail near Glendas Way and Briarwood Lane, which could have been used as a refuge for pedestrians midway through the crosswalk,” Hannon said. “A sidewalk and shared-used path would be added along Tidewater Trail between the Benchmark and Glendas Way/Briarwood Lane intersections.”
That project is not slated to begin until August 2028 and does not have an established completion date. Hayes said it can’t come soon enough.
According to VDOT’s latest data, 24,000 vehicles travel that portion of Route 2 each day. Hannon noted that VDOT took steps to improve safety along the way. The crosswalk was paired with a rectangular rapid flashing beacon that could be activated by people crossing the street.
“Advanced flashing warning lights were added, [but] pedestrians continued to be struck,” Hannon said.
County transportation officials completed a Signal Justification Report and VDOT conducted a Traffic Signal Warrant Analysis in 2024, which found the signal to be warranted at Glendas Way and Briarwood Lane, Hannon said. Previously, a traffic signal had not been warranted.
The speed limit in the area is 45 miles per hour, but Hayes said the intersection is a “raceway” with vehicles zipping north and south. The safety concerns are exacerbated by the crosswalk, which many residents of the nearby townhomes use to access the Weis grocery store, Starbucks coffee shop and several other nearby merchants.
Vehicles exiting the shopping center can turn right, left or go straight across — although Hayes said they rarely turn left because the traffic volume makes it too difficult. Instead, they’ll drive through the shopping center past the CVS Pharmacy and turn left at the Benchmark Road intersection.
The confusion — and lack of attention by some drivers — has led to fatalities that left some residents of the nearby River Club subdivision and the townhomes traumatized. Hayes said she lived in River Club for many years, and it was difficult to leave home and witness the aftermath of another serious crash.
“It’s very jarring when you come out of your neighborhood and unknowingly there’s somebody that had been killed,” Hayes said. “It is traumatic because when it’s a regular occurrence, which, that’s what it felt to like to me, then you know you have to do something.”
