A dangerous curve near Chilesburg that has seen six accidents since 2012, one of them a fatality, will receive additional signage and other modifications to address safety concerns.
The curve, located on Route 639 (Ladysmith Road) near its intersection with Route 738 (Anderson Mill Road), was most recently the site of a tragic accident in which a Mack truck crossed over the center line and toppled onto a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction, killing its occupant, Gwendolyn Gray, 64.
The truck driver, Gary Hudson, 50, on Sept. 2 was charged in Caroline Circuit Court with involuntary manslaughter.
Between 2012 and 2014, five other crashes occurred. An e-mail from VDOT Fredericksburg Residency Administrator Sean Nelson to local officials noted that “four of those crashes were directly caused by the curve.”
Of the five, four involved at least $1,500 in property damage, and one involved an injury. One was a head-on crash, three were accidents in which the vehicle struck a fixed object off the road and one was a non-collision.
According to VDOT spokeswoman Kelly Hannon, VDOT standard protocol calls for a site review of the location of any fatal crash on a state-maintained road to look “for any physical conditions at the site or on the road where modifications or changes would promote safety.”
In the wake of the Aug. 18 crash that led to Gray’s death, VDOT is recommending the addition of a set of signs warning truck drivers of rollover risk, the installation of yellow dashed lines to help guide drivers safely around the curve and the addition of rumble strips on either side of the curve to alert drivers to slow their speed.
Previously, only curve warning signs advising a speed of 25 miles per hour were installed in both directions leading up to the curve.
In his e-mail, Nelson noted that although the measures “do not solve the problem of realigning the curve,” they “should help mitigate future accidents.”
In order to realign the curve, Caroline County would either have to add the project to its Secondary Six-Year Plan or submit an application to carry out the improvements through a revenue-sharing program that would split costs between the county and the state.
This section of Route 639 has not previously been part of any Six-Year Plan submitted to VDOT by Caroline County.
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