Intersection Where Fatal Accident Occurred One of McLean's Most Dangerous

Twenty-seven crashes have occurred in the past four years at the intersection of Bellview  Road and Old Dominion Drive where a Leesburg woman was killed last month .

Ten of the crashes occurred between March 2009 and now, according to numbers from Dranesville Supervisor John Foust and the Virginia Department of Transportation.

“This is a bad intersection. I don’t know that it is the worst intersection in McLean but it is certainly one of the worst,”  said Dranesville Supervisor John Foust.

This number of crashes is higher than average for intersections in McLean, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation.

“We have raised concerns about the safety of this intersection with VDOT in the past. VDOT refused our request to lower the speed limit on this stretch of Old Dominion,” Foust said.

“They did install cross-road warning signs closer to the intersection, cut back some overgrown vegetation and removed a dead tree near the intersection,” Foust said. “VDOT has also been asked to remove, or have removed by the property owner, some holly trees but that has not yet been done. “

A 42-year-old Leesburg woman died at this intersection March 2 after the car she was driving ran a stop sign and was hit by an SUV driven by a 50-year-old McLean woman, Fairfax County police reported a short time ago.

Sow-Hoong Hon was operating a 1999 Honda Accord northbound on Bellview Road shortly before 1:30 p.m. Her Honda failed to stop at the stop sign before entering the eastbound lanes of Old Dominion Drive, where a 1999 Toyota Land Cruiser, struck the driver’s door of the Honda,  police said.

No charges were brought in connection with the  accident.

Bellview is a narrow winding steep road with hairpin curves and a 20mph speed limit which runs from Georgetown Pike to Towlston Road. It is the address of primarily large estate-type homes.

Freda Jones who lives on Bellview near the accident site said at the time of the accident, "It is a terrible intersection. In the first three weeks (that we lived here)  there were two accidents," she said. She did not see the accident.

"I tell my sons all the time to watch out for that intersection," she said. "I tell them to look five times before you pull out."

A younger son sleeps in a bedroom on the front of the house. "My son is awakened often in the morning" by the sound of a accident at the intersection of Bellview and Old Dominion, she said.

Why is the intersection in a totally residential neighborhood of big houses on big lots so treacherous?

The geometry of the intersection is such that the two streets meet at an odd angle that creates sharp angles at two corners. In addition, traffic from the north side enters the intersection at Old Dominion from a steep hill which may limit the view of Old Dominion and the stop signs. There are also many trees around the intersection which may limit visibility, Foust explained.

VDOT agreed that the overwhelming number of crashes were angle crashes.

VDOT”s solution: We believe that the line of sight for motorists heading north on Bellview Road can be improved by further cutting back foliage and/or removing trees in the southeast quadrant of the intersection.  The tree work will be done in the next couple of weeks.