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A Safer Route 9
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This information was last updated in 2003 and 2004.
Please check back as this information will be updated soon. |
West Virginia Route 9 is already being asked to carry more traffic than it should handle. The result is an unacceptable accident rate and the promise of even worse congestion in the next decade.
Charles Town to Virginia State Line
The WV Division of Highways has determined that in the period from January 1994 to December 1997, this stretch of road already had an accident rate higher than the statewide rural primary road rate (see Accident Rate table).
Statewide Accident Rate Comparison
WV Route 9, Virginia State Line to Charles Town 2001-2002 vs. Statewide Average Accident Rates 2002 per Hundred Million Vehicle Miles (HMVM)
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Accidents
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Accidents/hmvm
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Injuries/hmvm
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Fatalities/hmvm
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Statewide Average*
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216
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140
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3.38
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WV Route 9
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302
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185
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5.27
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Percent Higher than Statewide Average (WV9)
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40%
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32%
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56%
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* Statewide Average for all Primary Roadways (All US and State Numbered Routes)
The reason for the high accident rate is easy to understand. The Eastern Panhandle is growing far faster than any other section of West Virginia. More people mean more vehicles. More vehicles on the same roadway inevitably mean more accidents.
Martinsburg to Charles Town
Between 1992 and 1997, traffic increased substantially along existing Route 9 (see Average Daily Traffic table below). Measured at the IRS Connector Road, for example, average daily vehicle traffic grew from 12,750 to 16,050. That is a 26 percent increase.
Elsewhere the problem is even more acute. At the Shenandoah Junction Road (Rt. 20), the increase (from 10,500 to 15,100) is a whopping 43 percent.
Look down the road to 2012, and you find that the figures are even more startling. The overall increase for existing Route 9 in Berkeley and Jefferson Counties between 1997 and 2012 is another 120 percent (again, see the table below).
Average Daily Traffic
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Intersection
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1992
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1997
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Percent Increase 1992-1997
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2012 Without Changes
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Projected % Increase from 1997-2012
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Shenandoah Junction Road
(Rte 20)
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10,500
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15,100
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43%
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33,400
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125%
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Wiltshire Road
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10,950
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15,800
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44%
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35,000
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121%
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Route 480/1
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11,050
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15,300
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38%
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34,000
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122%
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VA Medical Center Drive
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12,600
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17,700
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40%
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39,400
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122%
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IRS Connector Road
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12,750
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16,050
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26%
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35,700
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122%
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Source: WVDOH, Traffic Engineering, 1997.
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