VDOT data: Most dangerous Hopewell intersections, city sees most crashes resulting in injuries

HOPEWELL — If you're wondering which Tri-City locality could be considered the most dangerous, it might be Hopewell. When compared to other localities in the area, Hopewell saw the highest percent of accidents resulting in injuries to drivers and passengers.

This report analyzed Virginia Department of Transportation data from 2016 to 2020 in the search for each city's most dangerous intersections. After compiling reports on Petersburg and Colonial Heights, one overall statistic stood out when it came to the Wonder City.

More: By the stats: Petersburg's five most dangerous roads and intersections

More: Traffic Stats: What areas of Colonial Heights experience the most car accidents?

A tally for every accident that occurred over the five-year period showed that 75% of accidents across the city led to injuries. The next closest locality was Petersburg, where 45% of accidents resulted in injuries. About 31% of accidents in Colonial Heights resulted in injuries.

The answer for which locality is the most dangerous however, may come down to your definition of danger.

Of every locality, Petersburg had a vastly higher number of overall accidents at 3,867. Dinwiddie had the next highest crash total at 2,352. Hopewell's total was 2030.

For having such a high number of injuries, Hopewell was the only locality that didn't record a single traffic fatality during the entire five-year period. Deaths were mostly concentrated out in the region's rural roads.

Dinwiddie topped the area with 44 deaths. Prince George was next in line with 25 deaths. Petersburg had 21 and Colonial Heights had seven.

Data showed some of the reasons for crashes in Hopewell. The most common recorded causes were distracted driving (310), excess speed (258) and alcohol-related accidents (120).

Age data showed that teenagers were involved in a lower total number of accidents than people over the age of 65. Teens (15-19) were involved in 237 total accidents from 2016-2020 while drivers over the age of 65 were involved in 368.

But which roads and intersections should drivers watch out for the most? VDOT's cluster data shows areas where a high number of accidents are grouped together. Below are the areas that had the most significant data over the five-year period.

Oaklawn Boulevard - Eastbound from Crossings Boulevard to Tri-City Drive

This area on one of the city's main arteries is home to shopping centers on both sides of the road. Several side streets lead to smaller intersections for turning into parking lots for shopping, fast food and gas stations.

This area showed the city's highest concentration of accidents in a single area. Cluster data showed 101 total crashes across the five years. The chance of being injured in a crash here was 75%, only marginally above the city's average of 74%, but the area's total number of crashes signal that it is a spot for drivers to be especially careful. Most of the accidents accumulated around traffic lights at Oaklawn Boulevard's intersections with with Crossings and Tri-City Boulevards.

Oaklawn Boulevard - Eastbound from Colonial Corner Drive to Ashland Street

This section of road is just across I-295 from the area listed above. This is the portion of road where Oaklawn Boulevard splits two ways at the Wawa when traveling eastbound. It includes Woodlawn Street to the north, between Colonial Corner Drive to Ashland Street.

Much like the above, there are plenty of side streets and business parking lots converging with Oaklawn Boulevard. Traffic lights were still considered high-crash areas, though roadways between these lights also saw their fair share of accidents.

This area saw slightly less accidents than the first location on Oaklawn (93) but was even more prone to crashes resulting in injuries (79%).

W. Randolph Road - From E. City Point Road to E. Main Street

This brief section of road begins at the Beacon Theatre in Downtown Hopewell and continues southeast until W. Randolph's intersection with E. City Point Road. This downtown area is both a throughway from one side of the city to the other, and a heavily travelled location for shoppers and diners looking to come downtown.

Accidents along this area were fairly regular, though not as regular as the previous two listings. It had 72 accidents over the five-year period. It was even more dangerous than the previous two, with 83% of those accidents resulting in a least one injury. Crashes were fairly evenly spread across the section of road.

Intersection - Winston Churchill Drive with High Avenue

This intersection further east on Route 36 had the highest number of injuries from any statistically significant crash cluster in the city. The intersection itself crosses a four-lane boulevard with a three and four lane crossing streets.

This one intersection had 53 accidents from 2016-2020. Of those accidents, 89% resulted in at least on injury. Only six accidents during the entire time period resulted in property damage alone.

You can reach Sean Jones at sjones@progress-index.com. Follow him at @SeanJones_PI. Follow The Progress-Index on Twitter at @ProgressIndex.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: VDOT data: Hopewell has the most traffic injuries in the Tri-Cities