On Route 15, a Question of Safety

Fatal Accident Spurs Renewed Call for Improvements at Bypass Split

The small spray of carnations and daisies could barely be seen from the road. Dozens of trucks and cars roared by the tiny sign that read, "Dustin & Courtney, We love you and we'll miss you."

But days after two Frederick teenagers were killed in a traffic accident on a busy stretch of Route 15 in central Loudoun County, the roadside memorial was a sign to some people of the dangers along that roadway, and the deaths have prompted a call from one public official for safety improvements.

Dustin Muse, 16, was driving south on Route 15 with his sister, Courtney, 13, in their father's 2000 Jeep Wrangler about 6 p.m. on Wednesday when the vehicle veered off the road near the split between the Route 15/Route 7 Bypass and Business Route 15, just outside Leesburg. The two were killed almost instantly after the soft-top Jeep plowed down a steep embankment and crashed into two trees, said Loudoun County sheriff's spokesman Kraig Troxell.

The sheriff's office was investigating the accident, but it was uncertain Friday whether a cause would be determined soon. Troxell said that alcohol and speed did not appear to be factors.

"It's possible that we may never know the cause of the accident," he said.

But after two other traffic fatalities near the same stretch of Route 15 this year -- and a total of five fatal accidents this year on Route 15 countywide -- some in Loudoun said Friday that it is time to look at how to prevent another serious accident there.

Leesburg Town Council member Kenneth D. Reid said he planned to propose a resolution recommending that the Virginia Department of Transportation consider implementing several safety upgrades at the bypass and along Route 15. Reid said the recent population boom in Loudoun had pushed the narrow two-lane country road to its limits and had made the bypass split especially dangerous.

"During rush hour the traffic there is horrendous. You have to stop, and you have to wait for this long line of cars coming from the north," Reid said, referring to the predicament of northbound drivers. "If you're coming in rush hour, I just can't see how you get through there without speeding. You're going to plow through that intersection."

Reid said he planned to ask the Town Council to consider asking VDOT to use reflective paint to mark lines on the road and to install guardrails and place additional lighting near the stretch where the accident happened and in other areas along Route 15. Shoulders along some sections of the winding road are less than five feet wide, and some are unpaved. In some spots, there is no shoulder.

The council is expected to discuss the proposal at a meeting tomorrow and could vote on it as early as Tuesday, Reid said.

VDOT officials said Friday they had already begun reviewing conditions along the road after receiving a letter in October from Reid asking the agency to look into safety measures. VDOT engineer Jim Zeller said he planned to study traffic volume and possible changes that might affect motorists in the coming weeks.

Two VDOT workers were already at the bypass split Friday morning, inspecting the trail of splintered trees left after the accident.