ACCOMACK COUNTY - The Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commission (A-NPDC) is collecting data and public input for a project to make driving on the Eastern Shore of Virginia's roads safer.
The Eastern Shore Safety Action Plan is an extension of the US Department of Transportation's Safe Streets for All (SS4A) program. In December 2024, A-NPDC was awarded $200,000 from SS4A to develop a comprehensive plan to significantly reduce the number of fatal and serious injuries for all roadway users.
"The goal of the plan is to have a 40% reduction in serious accidents and fatalities by 2050," Harvey Spurlock, a regional planner with A-NPDC, said.
According to the project's website, nearly 4,000 crashes happened on Eastern Shore roads in Virginia between 2020 and 2024. About 81% of those crashes occurred on US Highway 13.
The project is still in early data collection and community engagement phases.
"There's an interactive website where people can actually go on a website and identify, you know, their safety concerns," Spurlock said.
That interactive map allows people to drop a pin, select a category of road incident and elaborate on their concerns for that specific location. Additionally, Spurlock said the commission is hosting a series of pop-up events on the Eastern Shore to hear community input in person.
As a musician, Kurt Meyer often travels to gigs on Route 13. Though he has not seen accidents firsthand, Meyer said hearing from drivers is a good way to identify problem areas.
"Obviously, 13 is the main thoroughfare down the whole Eastern Shore," Meyer said. "I think it's a great idea if you have something where people, if they want to add their input."
James Waltz lives in Accomack County. He said he thinks out-of-state visitors rushing to vacation destinations in the summer contribute to unsafe road conditions.
"If they could just start their vacation in their car and relax on the way down, wow, what a difference it would make," Waltz said.
The next phases of the project include site visits, the development of regional strategies and documentation, which is expected to be completed by April 2026.
A-NPDC told WBOC that once a final plan is drafted, it will be submitted to local government officials for endorsement before additional funding is sought to implement engineered solutions in accident hotspots.
More information and the interactive map can be found here.