STAFFORD COUNTY — A sharp curve on Popular Hill Road, near where a 16-year-old high school student was involved in a crash and later died, is being straightened.
Mountain View High School Student Kyle Morgan, 16, was killed in March 2018 when the Hyundai Accent he was riding in collided head-on with a large SUV. He suffered head trauma and injuries to his lower body.
No one was charged in the crash.
More than a year later, near the crash scene, trees are being removed for a project to straighten a sharp curve on Popular Road at Cedar Hill Lane.
It’s a $2 million project aimed at bringing this antiquated two-lane road up to par with state standards.
“A lot of these roads were built way back when, and design standards have changed,” said Stafford County Transportation Program Manager Alexander Owsiak.
Today, crews are working to take down trees that lie in the path of the soon-t0-be straightened road. When finished, the improved Poplar Road will have two 11-foot lanes, six-foot graded shoulders, three feet of which will be concrete.
The project is being funded by the county, not the Virginia Department of Transportation which is responsible for road maintenance.
The work on the project started on May 20 and should wrap up by Oct. 31.
The county is also funding other road improvement projects.
Brooke Road
- $5.2 million project
- Reconstruct and realign Brooke Road near Eskimo Hill Road.
- New 11-foot lanes and 6-foot shoulders
- Improved stormwater management
- Road to be reopened to traffic in July 2019
- Project completion slated for March 2020
Berea Church Road
- $6.5 million project
- Rehab and reconstruction of the roadway
- Improved stormwater management
- Construction start Fall 2020
Route 1 at Courthouse Road
- Cost not yet known
- Widen Route 1 to provide left turn lanes onto Courthouse and Bells Hill roads
- Route 1 will become a divided highway with a concrete median separating north and southbound traffic
- New sidewalk to be installed on both sides of Route 1
- Construction to begin early 2020
- Construction to be completed by the end of 2021
Route 1 at Telegraph Road
- A permanent signal light will be installed at this intersection to replace a temporary signal light currently in use
- A once-envisioned new connector road to be built just north of the intersection will not be built due to high costs.
Some of Stafford County’s antiquated two-lane roads were built more 70 years ago. While the county works to improve them, Owsiak hopes drivers will slow down.
“A lot of these accidents come from speeding and exceeding the limits of the roadway. we all design these roads to a certain speed limit and once you exceed that it’s difficult to overcome those circumstances,” said Owsiak.
