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Nelson County, Virginia gets their first traffic light

Adam Froehlig passed along an article to me today about Nelson County, Virginia getting their first ever traffic signal. It will be on US 29 in Lovingston and will be functional sometime in March of this year. It is also the first traffic light on US 29 from Madison Heights to Charlottesville. Coincidentally, a McDonalds has recently opened in Lovingston which is the first fast food restaurant to open in Nelson County.

If you have ever been on this stretch of US 29, you will have to say it is extremely beautiful. It rolls through gorgeous country side. The Blue Ridge Mountains are to your east. In Lovingston, Peebles Mountain (elv. 1826') rises above the small village for a dramatic scene. US 29 through this part of Virginia is one of my all time favorite drives. I usually try to pop a Dave Matthews CD in through here and the music almost always fits perfectly.

I found it amazing that this would be Nelson County's first traffic signal. It is amazing that the county has gone this far into the auto age without one. There are not many of these counties left anywhere along the East Coast. And also because Nelson County is really not that far from cities like Charlottesville, Roanoke, Richmond, and Washington, D.C. , it is amazing how much country there still is out there.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I believe that Hamilton County here in New York doesn't have any traffic lights either. Perhaps in Indian Lake, but even there I don't think they have any signals.

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