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I/i ~... <br />47 <br />June 13, 2000 <br />Orange County Board of Commissioners <br />Orange County Planning Board <br />Subject: Proposed Woodlands Subdivision <br />Last Saturday there was a fatal accident on Jones Ferry• Road neaz University Lake. A <br />car crossed the center line and hit one of my neighbors and her two young children head <br />on. Thzy were subsequently rear-ended. Two people were thrown from the other car and <br />' died. Iv1v neighbor and her children were not seriously injured. <br />Several months ago another neighbor was not as fortunate. His truck was involved in a <br />collision on Jones Ferry Road at Damascus Church Road. As a result of that accident, he <br />suffered spinal chord injuries and may not walk again. <br />Both accidents occurred during the day. <br />As I mentioned at the Commissioners meeting June 6, 2000,, I have lived in Turkey Run <br />Subdivision since 1988. The increase in traffic on Jones Feny Road has become very <br />noticeable in the last few years. The traffic flow throughout the day is constant now, <br />unlike a few yeazs ago. Jones Ferry is a lovely, winding country road, now heavily <br />traveled by speeding cars and dump trucks that frequently cross the center line while <br />negotiating the curves. The road has become, in my opinion, unsafe for recreational use, <br />although many people still ride bicycles on it. <br />Of the 1 S houses on our street, the occupants of 3 of those homes have been involved in <br />collisions on Jones Ferry Road within the last year or so - an astonishing 20°ro! That <br />figure does not include the man who was so seriously injured in the accident at Damascus <br />Church Road because he lives a few streets over. It does include a neighbor who, after <br />living here for longer than I, moved to -Bowden Road just prior to his accident. <br />I understand that the current regulations require that a traffic impact study be performed <br />for proposed subdivisions with as many as 35 homes. I understand further, that this <br />regulation was enacted after the application for the proposed Woodlands Subdivision was <br />filed. The 41 homes proposed for the Woodlands would add an additional 80 or so <br />personal vehicles, plus delivery vehicles, construction traffic and maintenance vehicles to <br />an already heavily traveled country road. <br />If,, as it appears, there is a problem with the current level of traffic on Jones Ferry Road, <br />must we exacerbate the problem by allowing even more development? Is rampant <br />growth inevitable? <br />I have contacted the State Highway Patrol office in Graham to obtain statistics about the <br />number and pattern of accidents they have investigated on Jones Ferry Road. I am not <br />