Traffic snarl around truck stop concerns supervisors

New Kent supervisors are far from happy with traffic congestion around the Pilot Travel Center located on Route 106 near the Interstate 64 Talleysville interchange. But apparently board members can do little about it other than complain.

During their May 26 work session, supervisors discussed results of a 2009 traffic study at the location and subsequent review of the document by an independent consultant. Conclusions were the same and, for that matter, obvious — an insufficient number of parking spaces exist for tractor/trailers.

“The bottom line is there will always be a traffic problem with Pilot if we do not address the amount of parking,” county community development director George Homewood told board members during the work session.

Homewood said Pilot is in compliance with a county conditional use permit issued in December 2008. The permit, however, locks Pilot into providing no more than 30 tractor/trailer parking spaces.

Little incentive exists for Pilot to sink money into improving the site, he said, since the permit expires in December 2014. And amending the permit to require improvements would run counter to the permit’s temporary nature, he added.

Back in 2008, Pilot officials indicated they plan to relocate the travel center to a more suitable location, preferably the Route 33/West Point interchange on I-64.

“But Pilot is saying the market now is not there to move,” County Administrator Cabell Lawton told board members. He added the county must determine if there is willingness for a long-term commitment on Pilot’s part.

Supervisors, meanwhile, voiced safety concerns and concluded as board chairman Marty Sparks put it, “That road’s a mess” and the situation is “out of control.”

“If we nibble at it and make it bigger, we’ll just have more of a mess,” District 4 Supervisor Stran Trout said. “The more spaces they have, the more traffic they’ll have. That’s how we’re stuck where we are.

“The problem is a gas station turned into a truck a stop and it doesn’t fit there,” he added.

The traffic study recommended additional road signs clearly designating routes for traffic flow in and out of the travel center and separating trucks from non-commercial and passenger vehicles. Homewood also noted in his report that Pilot management and staff at the location “have been less than diligent” in monitoring and enforcing truck traffic restrictions as required by the county’s permit.

“Our response is to have them comply with what they’re supposed to be doing to the best of their ability,” Sparks said.

In other matters, supervisors voted 5-0 to transfer $16,500 from county General Services to Parks and Recreation for replacing deteriorated bleachers located at baseball fields behind the Historic School (old middle school).

Poor condition of the bleachers has resulted in two recent incidents involving injury, one significant, interim county attorney Michelle Gowdy told the board.

The money covers purchase and installation of four sets of bleachers. Not part of the replacement project are bleachers at the old school’s football stadium.

Supervisors, meanwhile, are backing off a proposed zoning law amendment that would allow cell phone communications towers under 199 feet in height to be approved by county administration without requiring a conditional use permit.

Under current county law, any tower exceeding 75 feet must have a permit. Raising the bar to 199 feet would reduce the county’s workload and lower cost for tower builders, Homewood said. The public would lose the right to comment during the CUP process, but would still be aware of potential tower sites since the requirement for tower builders to advertise and conduct balloon tests remains on the books, he added.

The amendment would also eliminate the current surety requirement on the builder to guarantee tower removal and place that burden on the landowner.

But supervisors quickly shot down the proposal.

“I think we’re going to have a significant issue,” Sparks said.

“We could catch a lot of grief,” chimed in District 5 Supervisor Ray Davis.

A recent burst of tower construction applications prompted the proposal. New Kent has 25 existing towers, and permits have been approved for building two more.