Stafford scrambles for Brooke Road flooding fix

The situation on Brooke Road has become intolerable.

That was the gist of a situation, according to residents that spoke to the Stafford County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, December 15. In the last couple of years, floodwaters have made driving on Brooke Road a dangerous prospect, especially on the S-curve that lies near Accokeek Creek.

In the last year alone there have been four traffic incidents on Brooke Road, with the latest event involving a woman who had to be rescued from her car as the road flooded from the most recent rains.

Brooke Road is a one way in and out road which causes as many as 450 homes to be cut off from the road and making it impossible for first responders to get to emergencies during floods. Stafford County and the Virginia Department of Transportation have made efforts to improve conditions on the road since 2015.

Brooke residents also have to deal with the issues of overgrown brush and trees as well as beaver dams that contribute to the flooding problems, they said. The state transportation department is currently working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to trap the beavers and eventually break down the dams, which they said attribute to the flooded conditions.

In May, the Board had approved $250,000 to replace the culverts in specific locations along Brooke Road, one of which was the S-curve. That was supplemented by an additional $300,000 that was approved by the Board in September to further those replacements.

During the meeting, Rock Hill District Supervisor Crystal Vanuch asked a VDOT representative about what is contributing to the flooding. The culverts are overwhelmed by the rain and get blocked up, he replied.

Garrisonville District Supervisor Mark Dudenhefer took VDOT to task for the state of Brooke Road admonishing them, accusing them of dropping the ball. The VDOT representative replied that the department wanted to work with the county to find a solution to the problems ailing Brooke.

The Board of Supervisors now must hunt for the money to solve the problems.

The previous plan for Brooke Road was to make improvements over the next five years, starting with new culverts which calculating surveying work, design, permits, and labor would have cost the County between $300,000 to $500,000. But with the current state of Brooke Road, the Board decided to jump to the next stage of the plan and to make an emergency access point available for residents and first responders when flooding occurs.

The Board hopes to create an access road by using a gravel path that would connect Crestwood Lane and Windemere Drive and allow commuters to get around when the road floods.

Windermere is a private street, so the county is currently in negotiations with the property owner to use the byway. The county can currently provide $300,000 which was reallocated from the culvert projects but would still need to find more funds to get to the $10 million they would need for not only the emergency route project but to the ultimate goal of taking out the S-curve and rebuilding that portion of Brook Road.

The Board is expecting an update on the situation to come at its next meeting on January 19.