Love’s proposed facility is expected to accommodate 6,530 trips PER DAY. Even with this amount of vehicles (including a percentage of tractor trailers measuring 75ft each), the plan has no change in the width or number of lanes on the 522 bridge. This kind of traffic is not only frustrating, it’s dangerous.

A Love’s Travel Stop would bring a large increase in the heaviest machines on the road. Trucks this size create major maintenance issues on roads. A study by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) determined that the road damage caused by a single 18-wheeler was equivalent to the damage caused by 9,600 cars.

The Struggle To Mend America’s Roads

With bathrooms, showers, a carwash, RV’s, and a restaurant, there is a concern with the massive additional well draw on the aquifer used by Gum Spring residents. 

Public water and sewer are unavailable in Gum Spring, so Love’s plans to use a water treatment system that incorporates a type of surface discharge. Love’s estimates their flow rate will be between 11,000 and 13,000 gallons per day. Eventually, the waste that is generated by Love’s building and customers will end up in the ground in Gum Spring. And there would be a lot of it. 

A Love’s Travel Stop is an extra large fueling station. Whether it’s a faulty truck, faulty equipment or a negligent driver, fuel will end up being spilled eventually. Sometimes, spills can create minor disasters for local residents.  

Officials Dealing With Diesel Fuel Leak

We currently have 4 local gas stations and convenience stores within driving distance of the exit. Three of these are less than a mile from the bridge. The last thing we need is for a major brand to build another gas station and convenience store. It negatively affects the other businesses and offers nothing new to local residents. 

A truck stop can be a barrier to future business development outside of services for traveling consumers. Once a truck stop moves in, it defines a large part of what that area will become. Gum Spring is an up and coming rural community. A truck stop is a major and dramatic change in the direction this community is moving towards.

By accepting Love’s Travel Stop, board members and residents would also be accepting major increases in light pollution, road and traffic noise, a potential drop in home values and the loss of the small rural town feel. Below are just a sampling of the experiences a truck stop brings. *These are all taken at or nearby Love’s Travel Stops.

According to the FBI, 4.5% of all reported violent crime in 2022 took place at a gas station or convenience store. Despite preventative measures, a truck stop remains a transient space. Due to its nature, it becomes a prime target for human and drug trafficking, theft and violent encounters between customers and loiters alike.

Whether it’s a case of assault, robbery, injury, accident or fire, truck stops greatly increase the odds that something is going to go wrong. The difference between a normal gas station and truck stop is that if something goes wrong, it can get bad quick. There are more vehicles, more flammables, more people and more interactions. With this increased risk, Gum Spring residents are right to be concerned about Louisa and Goochland County first responders being able to handle the kind of problems that come with the territory. Below are a few examples of what first responders have to be prepared for…