A new truck arrestor ramp opened today on U.S. 250 (Rockfish Gap Turnpike) that is the first ramp of its kind in Virginia.
The $5.5 million safety feature is designed to put the brakes on runaway big rigs and passenger vehicles descending Afton Mountain.
As 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 ramp addresses a safety issue for 18-wheelers heading down the mountain to the 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 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.
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Rebecca Barnabi
