Getting There: Share your shortcuts, as long as they don’t involve subdivisions

BY SCOTT SHENK

THE FREE LANCE-STAR

Congested roads are a way of life around here.

Blame whom you want, it won’t change a thing.

One thing we can do is think positively: One of these days the infrastructure will catch up with growth all traffic signals will be synchronized it won’t take 2o years for projects to make it through the pipeline

But that doesn’t do us any good now.

So maybe we’re better off finding ways to avoid some of those jams. (Keeping in mind that sometimes we just have to suck it up and wait; there are worse things in life.)

We here at the paper know a lot of shortcuts around town. (Really, it’s more than just shortcuts; sometimes it’s that other way, the other-cut, you use when traffic clogs your typical route.) But there are more of you than there are of us.

So send in tips and help us build a list of shortcuts—and other-cuts.

If more people know more ways to get from here to there, maybe some of the jams around here will clear up quicker or even be avoided. Every little bit helps.

We’ll consider just about any suggestion, short of a logging road or a neighborhood—suggestions that send traffic where people live and kids play won’t make the cut.

Maybe it’s time to finally reveal that favorite “secret” shortcut. Do it for the common good.

Send in tips using the contact information below, or visit our Facebook page at facebook.com/fredericksburgdotcom.

You can mail them to The Free Lance–Star News Department (Attn: shortcuts), 616 Amelia St., Fredericksburg, Va. 22401, or email them to sshenk@freelancestar.com. Please include “shortcuts” in the subject line.

Expect the results sometime soon in the column and on the Transportation blog (blogs.fredericksburg .com/transportation).

Dear Scott: Our family has lived on State Route 3 since 1971. A few years ago, there was a Chancellorsville battlefield sign erected just to the left of our driveway, and it makes for poor visibility of the fast-moving traffic flying over the hill.

My 73-year-old mother just moved back in, and we are scared for her to pull out into the road because it’s so hard to see oncoming traffic.

We have tried getting in touch with certain people, but have had no success.

It would be nice if it could be moved farther back or made higher.

The home is across from Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks, the Lynch family

—Deborah Seay, Spotsylvania

Workers with the Virginia Department of Transportation recently went to this spot and found the sign lying on the ground, spokeswoman Kelly Hannon said.

She added that the department is trying to find out who is responsible for the sign.

Whether it’s VDOT, the National Park Service or Virginia Logos, she said the department will help get the sign into a better, safer spot.

Scott Shenk: 540/374-5436

sshenk@freelancestar.com

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