CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- One Chesterfield County exit has been a point of pain for one resident for years, and now what he calls a dangerous exit has caused damage to his home.
On Monday afternoon, Randy Roe stood outside his Meadowdale townhome, facing the Dalebrook Drive exit that backs up to his complex.
Tire marks are still fresh in the mud, following a crash that happened there Sunday night. A driver, Roe said, coming onto the exit from Chippenham Parkway, barreled into his backyard and crashed into the side of his home.
"I hear this 'kaboom!' and I said, 'Somebody has hit a tree!" Roe said.
What was hit, however, was his home.
When he came downstairs and saw the damage: "I couldn't believe it. I was in shock."
The wall of his dining room is now destroyed. Debris litters the area. His satellite dish is flattened. A front bumper from a car sits just a few feet away.
When asked if that was from the same crash, Roe said: "No, that's from another crash that happened here."
The driver, Roe said, fled the scene. It's not the first time he's seen this exact thing play out behind his home.
"There's been so many wrecks that the cars have pushed the hill almost to a flat surface, and some people come up in the circle thinking that's a way to get onto Chippenham. That's a legal way," Roe said.
Fencing that used to be behind the complex, just off the exit, was damaged from a prior crash. In July 2019, Roe reported a similar situation to CBS 6. At that point, Roe said VDOT would not plan to make any changes to the exit but would monitor the spot.
Between January 2016 and July 2019, Chesterfield Police reported five accidents at that location.
In a statement to CBS 6, a spokesperson with VDOT there have been five crashes on both the north and south Dalebrook exit ramps since 2018, one with injuries.
VDOT's Crash Location Map lists three different crashes that were reported in that spot this year. Two crashes were listed as "Property Damage" and one was listed as "Injury."
Roe said his complex's management team is aware of the issue, but said the problem spot is in VDOT's jurisdiction. Though Roe considered leaving because of the issue, he said it's not that simple.
"That has been in my family since 1973. My parents both died of cancer and willed it down to me. And ever since, we've been having wrecks. And nobody helps," Roe said.
According to VDOT, the Dalebrook exit north and south ramps are included in a current study of the Route 150/Hopkins Road Interchange that VDOT is working on with Chesterfield County, which initiated the study. The study is exploring possible modifications, from realigning the ramps to guardrails.
The study will not be complete until November 2023.
There are rumble strips and 15-mile-per-hour signs coming onto the exit, but Roe said, that's not enough.
"It's just a matter of time before somebody dies. We could do everything perfect today, but it's going to happen again unless something's done."
