Campbell, Halifax officials want U.S. 501 to be funding priority

Holding the dented remains of a white bumper left in the intersection, Campbell County Supervisor J.D. Puckett, Halifax County Supervisor J.T. Davis and delegate James Edmunds watched as drivers carefully negotiated the intersection of U.S. 501 and Hog Wallow Road in Halifax County.

One after another, vehicles pulled a full car length past the stop sign onto U.S. 501 to check for traffic coming around the bend. From the stop sign, the view of the roadway is obstructed first by a sign, next by a parking lot partially filled with cars and finally by the guardrail traversing the roadway leading from Brookneal into Halifax County.

“I just want safe passage,” said Puckett, a member of the Route 501 Coalition, which is pushing for more state and federal funding to improve the highway.

The group wants Virginia legislators to find the means to deliver a steady stream of funding to enable the region to continue to maintain and upgrade the roadway. The coalition is comprised of people from Bedford, Campbell and Halifax counties, South Boston, the Virginia Department of Transportation and companies located along the roadway.

Puckett and Davis met with Edmunds this week at the intersection of U.S. 501 and Virginia 40 to show the delegate firsthand what they are concerned about.

Edmunds, who now represents a portion of Campbell County, does not live on U.S. 501 but said he is familiar with the roadway, which stretches from Interstate 81 near Lexington into North Carolina. Currently, the Coalition’s focus is on Halifax and Campbell counties because VDOT has provided funding for roadwork in those two localities.

“It makes me nervous every time I send someone out on it,” said Edmunds, whose farm employees use the highway for business travel. “There’ve been so many fatalities.”

Between 2006 and 2009, VDOT reported 12 fatalities along U.S. 501 in the stretch through Halifax and Campbell counties. On Tuesday, two separate car accidents occurred along U.S. 501, one in Campbell County and another in Halifax County.

“We don’t want to wait for something bad to happen,” said Davis. He and Puckett hope the regional approach to improving U.S. 501 will help delegates successfully lobby for funding.

VDOT has installed new turn lanes along U.S. 501 at the intersections of Virginia 917, 605, 543 and 686 in Campbell County. Among the needs along the roadway are turn lanes, shoulders, widening, roadway leveling, bridge work, guardrails and a new bypass.

Although VDOT set aside $11.2 million for safety and operational improvements to the highway, local officials worry some of those funds will be used to study the project or plan for future projects rather than to do the actual work. Additionally, Edmunds said it isn’t enough money to even “scratch the surface.”

At the same time, he said, any one project could be the one that saves a life.

The Route 501 Coalition is prioritizing the road’s needs and providing a cost estimate for each project. The last day for legislators to submit budget amendments is Jan. 13. The Coalition is expected to provide Edmunds with the list before then.