Residents want fix for dark intersection in Sterling
By Elizabeth Coe
Peg Schrader lives off West Maple Avenue in Sterling where just driving into her neighborhood can be a frightening experience.
That's because pedestrians are often crossing West Maple Avenue near the intersection with Sterling Boulevard, and it can be difficult to see if anyone is in the road, she said.
“I personally drive around that corner at 2 miles per hour, and I am sometimes surprised by a walker,” she said. “In daylight or at nighttime, the way people come around that corner, people are in danger.”
When turning right off Sterling Boulevard, there is a curve -- making it nearly impossible to see if anyone is walking or riding a bike ahead, Schrader said.
There is no street lamp in the area, and at night it is very dark, she said. A street light, a speed bump or road sign alerting drivers to slow down would help to ensure that drivers avoid any pedestrian traffic.
“I have been trying to get a street light at that intersection before someone dies there,” Schrader said. “I have almost run over people several times. You turn the corner, and it's like boom, they're there.”
Schrader has lived in the neighborhood for nine years. She said residents walk across West Maple to the Sterling Plaza Shopping Center across Sterling Boulevard. Children also walk by on their way to nearby Sterling Middle School.
Shannon Hayes, 12, lives off West Maple Avenue and walks across the intersection every day on her way to and from Sterling Middle School.
She said she sees accidents at West Maple and Sterling Boulevard all the time, at least two a month.
“A lot of people do walk to school that way,” she said. “I just run. It's scary. I have seen a person on a bike get hit there.”
Kraig Troxell, spokesman for the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, said there have been three pedestrian-involved accidents at West Maple and Sterling Boulevard over the last three years. No one was seriously injured or killed.
There is no record of any biking accident, but police records show a total of 16 accidents at that intersection in 2006 and 13 in 2007.
Schrader said she doesn't want to wait until someone is killed there before something is done.
Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling) said he is aware of the situation.
“We're engaged in trying to solve the problem,” he said.
A street light could be beneficial there, he said, but with the current project involving planting trees along Sterling Boulevard, there isn't much money left over for street lights in the area.
To try to find a way to privately fund a street lamp, Delgaudio said he has been in touch with representatives from Safeway in the Sterling Plaza Shopping Center, and he plans to talk to Fried Companies, which manages the shopping center.
Delgaudio has also handed out more than 100 light bulbs to citizens along West Maple and Sterling Boulevard to encourage them to keep the area well lit.
Schrader said she doesn't think the light-bulb effort will do enough to help.
A clearly marked street sign is needed or some combination of a sidewalk, speed bump or street light would help, she said.
“I just want the problem fixed however it can be,” she said.
Delgaudio has planned two public meetings at Park View High School on May 3 from 1 to 4 p.m. and May 14 from 6 to 9 p.m. Residents can come to address the issue or any others involving Sterling.
Contact the reporter at ecoe@timespapers.com