Manassas Journal Messenger | Council OKs Sudley Road improvements

The Manassas City Council gave the final go-ahead Monday night to a plan that calls for $350,000 worth of improvements to the intersection of Sudley Road and Plantation Lane.

The project may not be a flawless solution to the traffic woes that have plagued the crossroads, council members said, but it is still a much-needed improvement.

“This is going to be a difficult intersection no matter what,” Mayor Doug Waldron said during Monday’s meeting.

Though the intersection has long been acknowledged as a traffic headache, and funds have been available for road construction in the area because of a proffer agreement between the city and the Sumner Lake development, there has been some debate as to how to best fix the problem.

The state’s Transportation Safety Commission recommended that Stonewall Road, which runs parallel to Plantation Lane, be extended so that it intersects with Sudley Road, said Public Works Director Mike Moon.

Area business owners and some residents weren’t so fond of that idea, however. Extending Stonewall would have caused the destruction of a service road used by the businesses. Business owners spoke out against the loss of the service road, and some Stonewall residents felt that extending the street would cause too much traffic in their neighborhoods.

Through meetings between city staff and concerned citizens and business owners, the plan was modified.

Stonewall Road won’t be experiencing a growth spurt anytime soon, but the city is hopeful that the changes being made between May and August will improve the flow of traffic.

A three-foot wide concrete island will be installed on Plantation Lane at the intersection to prevent drivers from darting out from the service road to try and hang a quick turn from Plantation onto Sudley Road.

In addition, a stop sign and a “do not block intersection” sign will be put up for those exiting from the post office on Sudley Road, Moon said.

“People sometimes take liberties pulling out of the post office,” he said.

The right turn lane from Plantation onto Sudley will be improved, and an additional “no right turn on red” sign will be added to the traffic signal for northbound Sudley Road.

These measures, along with a few other improvements to the area, will be paid for by a combination of the proffer funds from the Sumner Lake development and bonds from the city’s fiscal year 2005 budget.

Staff writer Rob Seal can be reached at (703) 369-5718.