Shenandoah County’s new trash and recycling facility opens to county residents – the day after the site on John Marshall Highway closed. The county posted signs on the John Marshall Highway facility to alert users about the closing on Sunday, and employees put flyers in area stores to direct residents to the new site.
Director of Solid Waste Management Patrick Felling said the county plans to bar entry into the old John Marshall Highway site. Once closed, the county must restore the John Marshall Highway property to its original condition as pasture land in accordance with a lease agreement with the owners, Felling said. The county also plans to close a trash compactor and collection site on Green Acre Drive.
The county designed and built the Powhatan Road facility on 1.7 acres to handle more trash and recycling material than the sites on Green Acre Drive and John Marshall Highway combined, Felling said. The Powhatan Road site is a better location and built for the future, he added.
The facility features improved access and more space for vehicles to maneuver through the parking area and while users wait in line at busy times, Felling explained. But concerns about access to the John Marshall Highway site prompted the county to seek other locations. “We’re very concerned about the safety on the road at Route 55,” Felling said. “We often hear of incidents where there are near misses or not-so-lucky situations. We were concerned about that place because there’s no turn lane there at 55 mph.”
The limited space at the John Marshall Highway facility creates problems and a safety hazard on the road at busy times, Felling said. The new site can accommodate 15-20 vehicles either in the process of disposing trash and recycling materials or waiting in a queue, he added. “But, again, this site’s built for the future,” Felling said. “It’s our largest site, and we’re at a population center for the county, and so we do anticipate growth is gonna happen here, and we want to be ready for the next 10 to 20 years.”