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A LOGGING TRUCK
OVERTURNED ON A SECTION OF BRANDERS BRIDGE ROAD IN CHESTER ON MONDAY MORNING,
SPILLING DIESEL. RESIDENTS COMPLAIN FOR
UNSAFE ROAD CONDITIONS, BUT DOT SAYS THAT DRIVERS ARE TO BLAME
JANUARY 26, 2015
A logging truck overturned on a section of Branders
Bridge Road in Chester on Monday morning. (Source: NBC12)
CHESTERFIELD, VA (WWBT) -
Branders Bridge road is reopened after a rough start
Monday morning.
A truck went off the roadway and then overturned on the
shoulder. Residents say this is a symptom of a larger problem and something
needs to be done.
Mary Holt woke up to a flipped logging truck outside her
home Monday, and she says it isn't the first time its happened.
"This is the fourth time we've had trucks get off
into this ditch," she said.
Holt says four times in four months, but this one was too
close for comfort.
"It just missed it by inches, I mean the electrical
power lines could've come down on the truck," she said.
Investigators say the truck overturned and spilled
diesel. The road was closed down for six hours while crews worked to clean up
the mess. The driver was taken to the hospital, but is expected to be okay.
Some think Monday's crash has more to do with the road
than those driving on it. "Cars would be driving there and would slip out
around that spot and then get back on the road," said one man who works in
the area.
The Virginia Department of Transportation says more than
2,700 vehicles travel this section of Branders Bridge every day.
The department says from November 2011 to 2014,
41-crashes were reported in that vicinity. Douglas Brewster lives nearby and
has been in the logging business for decades. He says the responsibility falls
to the drivers.
"It is a road that has a certain amount of risk on
it and requires some careful driving," Brewster said.
VDOT is scheduled to be back out to fix the shoulder
after Monday's accident, but residents hope it's the first step to fix what
they call larger problems on Branders Bridge. VDOT says traffic engineering
department will assess the scene in the next few weeks. They could make possible
recommendations based on that review.