Route 250 – Rockfish Gap Turnpike
Albemarle County, Virginia
Big rigs that might lose their brakes descending the mountain now have a safe way to stop
From VDOT Culpeper:
Today, a new truck arrestor ramp opens on U.S. 250 (Rockfish Gap Turnpike), and it’s the first of its kind in Virginia. This $5.5 million safety feature is designed to put the brakes on runaway big rigs and passenger vehicles descending Afton Mountain.
It is part of a Smart Scale design-build bundle for Albemarle County which includes a new roundabout at U.S. 250 and Route 151 (Critzer Shop Road). The truck arrestor ramp addresses a safety issue for 18-wheelers heading down the mountain to that intersection.
The arrestor ramp system consists of 10 stainless-steel nets arranged to safely stop vehicles as large as an 18-wheeler weighing up to 80,000 pounds traveling up to 80 miles an hour. The first net is designed to stop a passenger vehicle.
The remaining nine nets will slow a big rig at a deceleration rate that will avoid injury to the driver. As a fail-safe, a heavy-duty safety net is located at the end of the ramp designed to stop vehicles larger than an 80,000-pound tractor trailer.
“Runaway Truck Ramp” and “Runaway Vehicle Only” signs are installed to alert drivers of the ramp as they descend Afton Mountain.
Visit 511virginia.org, call 511 or check the 511 Virginia mobile app for up-to-date information on road and traffic conditions.
For questions or to report hazardous road conditions, the public should contact VDOT’s 24-hour Customer Service Center by visiting my.vdot.virginia.gov or calling 800-FOR-ROAD (367-7623).
