Fairfax County supervisors may support banning trucks on a curving, precarious stretch of Georgetown Pike.
The board will consider endorsing a restriction on through traffic of large trucks on the two-lane road between Route 7 and Interstate 495 on Monday, a first step in a lengthy approval process.
The proposal was put forth by Dranesville District Supervisor Joan DuBois years after she was first told of a serious accident between a truck and car on a narrow stretch of the road. Other residents have relayed their support for the measure since then, she said.
“It’s just not safe for big trucks,” she said. “And it’s just not safe for the motorist who has to meet the big truck.”
She said the ban would apply to drivers of vehicles such as dump trucks and tractor-trailers who “want to take a shortcut” on Georgetown Pike. VDOT has already posted advisories near the intersection with Old Dominion Drive, a particularly dangerous stretch of the road with sharp turns and no shoulders.
For the Virginia Department of Transportation to consider such a restriction, a local government must put forth an alternate route. Fairfax County is suggesting routing the traffic from the Capital Beltway to the nearby Dulles Toll Road to Route 7, said Doug Hansen, a county transportation official.
If the Board of Supervisors endorses the ban, VDOT will begin a study lasting up to nine months that would involve input from the trucking industry. The final decision lies with the Commonwealth Transportation Board.
