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What will it take for the intersection of Route 60 and Route 632 to get flashing lights? That was brought up during the Monday, Aug. 12 meeting of the Buckingham County Board of Supervisors. Supervisor Cameron Gilliam for months has pushed to get some help for that intersection, with that resulting in June’s decision by the Virginia Department of Transportation to ‘throw the kitchen sink’ at the location which has been the scene of multiple accidents. On Aug. 12, Gilliam asked for an update on the request of putting flashing lights on the stopsigns as you approach the intersection from both directions.

VDOT engineer Scott Frederick said he submitted an order for the request.

“I haven’t officially got a work order back yet but I think we’re gonna give it a little time,” Frederick said, adding they may wait to see what impact the other work done on the intersection over the last month has had.

“I’m not gonna stop asking for the flashing lights and I would hope you won’t give it a lot of time,” Gilliam said. “I think the accidents have proved enough that we don’t need anymore time.”

What’s been done on Route 60?

So when Frederick talks about what’s been done, here’s what he’s referring to. Last year, VDOT put a sign up, warning people as they approached the intersection. The data shows as long as they paid attention, it was ok. One Route 60 crash last year was a resident who admitted to being distracted. Another was a teen driver, who admitted to being not focused on the road.

In June of this year, VDOT tried something else. Workers started clearing the right shoulder on both approaches to Route 60. The goal here is for people to never have to worry about tree branches blocking the view again.

The second step was installing stop signs at all approaches. These are the signs Gilliam wants flashing lights on, to draw people’s attention to them. And these signs are oversize, a 48 x 48 design. The signs were also installed closer to the shoulder of Route 632. Step three involved VDOT workers adding transverse rumble strips on each approach.

Blue Rock Resources has also helped the project, as the company donated 15 feet of additional easement area on both approaches to Route 60. That let VDOT cut the brush further back. Now drivers can see the stop signs from much farther back, as well as more of the road in all directions.

The final part of the project involves VDOT hiring a contractor to come in and trim four remaining trees. The power lines in the area made it so work crews were leery about trying to cut them down on their own. Instead, VDOT is hiring a specialist group to tackle the problem. That’s not going to happen immediately, however. Frederick said the group has a work order system to get projects done and there are a few others ahead of this one. He added that it could be a month or so before that final piece gets finished.