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4 <br />June 13. 2000 <br />Orange County Board of Cornnlissionzrs <br />Orangz County Planning Board <br />Subject: Proposed Woodlands Subdivision <br />Last Saturday there was a fatal accident on Jones Ferry Road near [Jniversity Lake. A <br />car crossed the center line and hit one of my neighbors and her two young children head <br />on. They were subscquentlyreer-ended. Two people were throvtim front tllc other car and <br />' died. IV~Iy neighbor and leer children were not seriously injured. <br />Several months ago another neighbor was not as forhinata. His thick was involved in a <br />collision on Jones Feny Road at Damascus Church Road_ As a result of that accidanl, lte <br />suffered srinal chard injuries and may not walk again. <br />Both accidents occurred during the day. <br />As I mentioned at the Commissioners meeting Junz 6, 2000, I have lived in Turkey Run <br />Subdivision sines 1988. The increase in traffic on Jones Ferry Road has become very <br />noticeable in the last few years. The traffic flow throughout the day is constant now, <br />unlike a fe~v years aeo. Jones Ferry• is a lovely, winding country road, now heavily <br />traveled by Speeding cars and dump tnicks that frequently cross the canter line while <br />negotiating thz curves. The road has become, in my opinion, unsafe for recreational use. <br />although many people dill ride bicycles on it. <br />Of the 15 pauses 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 - al] aStOlllsl1111g 2O~ip1 That <br />figtuc does not include tho man who vas so seriously injured ui the accident at Damascus <br />Church Road because he lives a few streets over. It does include a neighbor who, altar <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 perfom~ed <br />for Proposed subdivisions with as many as 35 homes. I understand further, that this <br />regulation was enacted after the application far the proposed Woodlands Subdivision vas <br />filed. The ~F1 homes proposed for the Woodlands would add an additional 80 or so <br />personalv4hicles, plus delivery vehicles, construction traffic and maintenance vehichs 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 Fem• Road, <br />must we zsacerbate the problem by allowing even mare development? Is rampant <br />growth inevitable? <br />I have contacted the State HiQhwav Patrol office in Graham to obtain statistics about the <br />number and pattern of accidents they have investigated on Jones Ferry Road. I am hat <br />