<bt>For Ardit Backa, a clerk at the Exxon station located at the intersection of Sully Road (Route 28) and Church Road (Route 625), traffic accidents are a common event.
“There was a gas truck that was making a left turn and then hit the car that was stuck at the traffic light,” said Backa. “Then [the truck] ended up in our parking lot. He damaged the pole with the gas prices.”
The intersection ranks second in a recent compilation of Loudoun County’s Top Ten Most Dangerous Intersections in 2001. The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Research Analyst compiled the annual ranking for intersections where accidents are more likely to occur. According to Public Information Officer Kraig Troxell, the ranking of intersections was more of a tally, “based on the number of accidents.” The list excludes all accidents handled by the Leesburg Police Department and the Virginia State Police.
Mohammad Saeed, a co-worker at the Exxon at Sully Road and Church Road, agrees with the intersection’s ranking. “It’s dangerous,” he said regarding the traffic and accidents he has seen. “It’s ridiculous. There have been more accidents on Church Road than on Route 28.”
ALONG WITH the intersection of Sully Road and Old Ox Road (Route 606), which ranked first on the list, the intersection of Sully Road and Church Road has consistently been ranked as one of the top two locations for traffic accidents. Sully Road and the Harry Byrd Highway (Route 7) appear to be major conduits for accidents. Intersections that occur along Sully Road account for four out of the 10 listed intersections while nine intersections occur along the Harry Byrd Highway. The eight, ninth and tenth listed intersections, all involving Sully Road or the Harry Byrd Highway, produced a total of 590 crashes in 2001, accounting for 23 percent of total crashes.
“Obviously we’re not saying to avoid [these intersections],” said Troxell. “We want to make people aware.” According to Troxell, the list will hopefully urge drivers “to use caution.”