Is traffic becoming more and more of a problem in Floyd?
While the backups are nowhere near the problems of, say, Northern Virginia, the load of cars on the streets of a one-stoplight town is one the rise.
I set up video at the intersection of U.S. 221 and Virginia Rte. 8 in Floyd Tuesday. It wasn’t rush hour, just a normal Tuesday afternoon. The various scenes were filmed over a 30-45 minute period starting before 5 p.m. Rush hour (if one exists in Floyd) generally starts around 6 p.m. when those working in the Roanoke and New River Valleys arrive back in Floyd on their way home (according to studies compiled by the Virginia Department of Transportation).
Heavier traffic also exists from 3:30 to 4:30 when schools in Floyd are letting out. I looked for a time when traffic was not at its afternoon peaks.
More traffic than in the past? You make the call.
While I don’t deny that traffic has increased in the past few years, I do note that a good portion of this video was shot between 5:21 p.m. and 5:25 p.m. – what I would call rush hour. That biases the video towards heavy traffic, in my opinion – people are getting off work and heading home at that time of the afternoon. I would imagine VDOT would have a traffic count available for the past few years (since the new traffic light was installed) if anyone was interested …
Actually Jeff, most of the video was shot before 5 p.m. and rush hour in traffic doesn’t start until well after 5:30 p.m. because it takes that long for the bulk of the county’s work force — which work in the New River Valley and Roanoke — to start arriving in town on their way home.
I’ve studied VDOT reports and they show the heaviest traffic in Floyd from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. — when the schools let out and again from 6 p.m. until around 7 p.m. I picked the times to film based on when the traffic counts were lower than the heaviest.
I intend to do another video on Fridays when traffic is the heaviest
Do me a favor, Jeff. Before you accuse me of bias, please do some research and make sure your supposition is correct. I don’t appreciate such a claim about my work and any such charge will be answered with facts, not supposition or anger — but it will be answered. 🙂