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Dear Editor,

Your Oct. 11 article “No Truck Restrictions on Monroe Church Road” was a bit misleading. “No Through Trucks” applies only to large commercial trucks, like those owned by Prince Edward County Supervisors Gilliam and Emert, from using Monroe Church Road as a cut-through. A through-truck restriction would not apply to pickups and vans. Nor would a restriction apply to any size vehicle visiting or doing business on Monroe Church Road.

The decision by the Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors to table the “No Through Truck” restrictions on Monroe Church Road was surprising. After all, during their Aug. 11 meeting, the Board of Supervisors decided to pursue this course of action to alleviate residents’ safety concerns. Residents’ concerns are based on the danger of speeding vehicles on a 1.7- mile stretch of road with 25 single-family homes, rentals, businesses, and a church.

On Oct. 10 the Board of Supervisors made the decision to table the restriction using incomplete information provided by VDOT. The Supervisors were not presented with the most recent data. The 2022 traffic data was not made available to the Supervisors, nor were they provided the speed/ engineering study results requested by VDOT in June of this year. There was a brief mention of truck stopping speeds at the meeting, but that was not pursued by the Supervisors. (Virginia’s Legislative Information System lists the full stopping distance of a truck traveling at 35 mph – the current speed posted on Monroe Church Road – as 155 feet.)

Why not wait for complete and accurate information before making a decision that impacts the safety of residents and visitors? Why only consider past accidents rather than being proactive in the prevention of future accidents? We should expect thoughtful decision-making on Monroe Church Road or any residential area.

Julia Maserjian

Rice