C2
R
KLMNO COMMUTER Rebuilding a problematic interchange
One of the worst commuting experiences in the D.C. region is to be a driver heading eastbound on Interstate 66 during the morning rush as traffic reaches the Capital Beltway interchange. Never was the term “rush” so abused. Easing that burden is one of the goals of the High Occupancy Toll lanes project. Te benefits should extend to drivers whether they use the express lanes or the general purpose lanes. — Dr. Gridlock
HOT lanes and HOT lane access ramps
• Two northbound and two southbound HOT lanes will be in the middle of the Beltway, completed around the end of 2012.
• Te project has opened a new bridge for eastbound I-66 traffic and is finishing the westbound span. Many other new connections remain in the works.
New ramp
THE PROBLEM: Carpoolers and general purpose traffic from eastbound I-66 ramps now merge into the northbound Beltway from the Beltway’s leſt side. Tis is the most difficult movement at the interchange, both for the drivers from I-66 and for the traffic already on the Beltway. Many drivers from I-66 will need to move across four lanes of Beltway traffic to use the Route 7 and Route 123 exits for Tysons Corner.
THE FIX: Once the interchange is rebuilt, drivers from eastbound I-66 who are carpooling or who want to pay the toll will follow a new ramp leading to the express lanes. Drivers from eastbound I-66 who want to use the general purpose lanes on the northbound Beltway will follow their own new flyover ramp leading to the right-hand side of the inner loop.
DR. GRIDLOCK Robert Thomson
495 To Tysons Corner
Even if a work zone is empty, the speed enforcement cameras are there for a reason
Dear Dr. Gridlock: I am really mad. I feel like
66 66
As northbound Beltway drivers emerge from the interchange, those to the leſt will be in the two new HOT lanes. Tose in the middle will be in four general purpose lanes. Tose to the far right, which includes the drivers who took the general purpose flyover ramp from eastboundI-66, will be in a new fiſth lane that continues on to Route 7 inTysons.
MD. 495 267
Tysons Corner
66 To Manassas, Va. HOT lanes VIRGINIA 495 Springfield 95
66 66
SOURCE: Virginia Department of Transportation 0 MILES To Springfield 95 1 3
MONTGOMERY CO.
LOUD. CO. VA.
P.W. CO.
Detail
FAIRFAX CO.
MD. D.C.
P.G. CO.
395
ALEXANDRIA 95
495
FAIRFAX CO.
DETAIL
ARL. CO.
29 66 50 D.C. To the District
I’ve been taken. On a recent trip to Pennsylvania I was on Interstate 695 heading north to I-83. There are many work zones in Maryland, all with signs alerting drivers to photo enforcement. I drove through a work area where no one was working, there was no equipment in the road, and there were no detours or cones diverting traffic to a new pattern. It was a Sunday morning. I was driving along with the
flow, which was above the posted work-zone limit, but not unusual for a regular stretch of that road. I was surprised to see a white flash as I passed a parked car on the side of the road. The ticket arrived a week
later. I feel that I and many others are being issued tickets that are undeserved. Why is Maryland issuing tickets in inactive work zones on a Sunday? I understand that during the week when workers are present there is a real danger from speeding traffic, but on a weekend when no activity is taking place, there is no reason for the speed to be lowered from the normal postings. It is virtually impossible to argue the ticket, since you cannot do it by mail, and taking the day to go to Maryland is unrealistic and more expensive than paying the ticket. Can anything be done, or is it impossible to fight city hall? —Helene Schlossberg, Arlington
I’m usually a fan of fighting MAP BY LARIS KARKLIS/THE WASHINGTON POST
city hall, but in this particular case, I think I’d pay Maryland the $40. In saying so, I know I’m instead fighting a great many readers who share Schlossberg’s frustration with the Maryland law allowing traffic enforcement cameras in highway work zones. I think the law, which will be
TRACY A WOODWARD / WASHINGTON POST A view looking east towards Washington at traffic coming westbound I-66. DR. G’S TIPS
NEW RAMP IN TYSONS Westbound commuters and drivers heading for Wolf Trap should watch for a new ramp tak- ing them from Chain Bridge Road (Route 123) to Route 7 in the middle of Tysons Corner. The old ramp from westbound
Chain Bridge Road to north- bound Leesburg Pike has closed to make way for construction of the Dulles Metrorail line. The new one is right nearby. There’s no big detour necessary — unless a driver misses the new entrance point for the ramp. Look for the ramp just after
International Drive and the Mar- riott Courtyard hotel. This will take drivers onto Frontage Road. That’s an existing road that will now be accessible from Chain Bridge Road. Drivers who miss
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this new access ramp will have to continue south on Chain Bridge Road to a right turn on Old Courthouse Road, which be- comes Gosnell Road and inter- sects with both directions of Leesburg Pike.
RED LINE SCHEDULE Over the summer, Metro cut the number of trains on the Red Line at rush hour and increased the number of cars per train. The transit authority’s goal is to make the arrival times more consistent by spreading out the trains on its busiest line. Red Line riders, have you noticed a difference? Before June 27, trains departed Shady Grove and Glenmont every five minutes. Between Grosvenor and Silver Spring, the stations where some trains turn back to
increase service at the busiest stations, trains were scheduled to operate every 21
⁄2 minutes. There
were 44 trains on the line. Of those, 37 were six cars long and seven were eight cars long, for a total of 278 cars. Since June 27, trains have been scheduled to leave Shady Grove and Glenmont every six minutes. Between Grosvenor and Silver Spring, they are scheduled for ev- ery three minutes. A total of 41 trains are assigned to operate, with 22 six cars long and 19 eight cars long, for a total of 284 cars.
WEST FALLS CHURCH LIGHTING Metro has announced plans to improve the lighting for the West Falls Church Station’s bus bay canopies. They were installed over the winter, but without the
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lighting, because the transit au- thority didn’t have the money. Virginia now has contributed funds to cover installation of fluorescent lighting for the bus bays by late January.
DELAYS IN LEESBURG Virginia Dominion Power
crews are scheduled to continue stringing power lines Sunday and Monday, probably causing big de- lays on Market Street (Route 7 Business) near the Route 7 By- pass in Leesburg. Traffic will be stopped for up to 20 minutes at a time from 6:30 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. today and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday. Virginia State Police and the Virginia Department of Trans- portation will monitor traffic and, if backups get too bad, they
will temporarily suspend the stoppages.
D.C. BRIDGE CLOSINGS Both the Douglass Bridge and
the Chain Bridge are closed this weekend as part of long-term re- pair programs. The Douglass Bridge, which takes South Capi- tol Street over the Anacostia Riv- er, remains open for pedestrians and bicyclists on the sidewalks. The Chain Bridge over the Poto- mac River is completely shut. The bridges are scheduled to reopen by 5 a.m. Monday.
ROUTE 29 PAVING Watch for nightly lane closures and delays on Route 29 in Fairfax County. Workers are milling and paving on the four and a half miles between the Prince Wil-
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liam County line and Pickwick Road. The job is scheduled to be done by Oct. 14. Route 29 will be down to one lane each way from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday nights.
VRE CONSTRUCTION Work is scheduled to begin
Monday on both platforms at the Fredericksburg station. Once that happens, VRE says, trains will not open their doors onto areas of the platform that are un- der construction. During the first phase of work,
both ramps for people with disa- bilities are scheduled to be closed. Signs will direct riders with disabilities to the elevators.
For more traffic information, go to
washingtonpost.com/traffic.
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a year old on Oct. 1, was written conservatively to deal with a very legitimate traffic safety concern: the high number of fatalities in work zones. For the Maryland cameras to trigger tickets, drivers must be traveling at least 12 mph over the posted speed limit. Keeping within 12 mph of the limit in a hazardous area is a reasonable demand. There are only four sites where drivers now encounter the mobile camera units, and there’s no secret about where they are: There are two on the Baltimore Beltway (I-695) at the Liberty Road and Charles Street interchanges, and two on I-95, in the work zone for the Intercounty Connector north of the District and between Chesaco Road and Route 40 in Baltimore County. The State Highway
Administration has plans for cameras in four more work zones: On the Baltimore-Washington Parkway in Anne Arundel County, and at three sites in Frederick County, on Route 15 at Hayward Road, on I-70 between Patrick Street and Route 355 and on I-270 near Route 80, at Little Bennett Creek. The highway administration
displays the current locations on a map at
www.safezones.maryland.gov. The map also displays the number of citations issued by the cameras as of Aug. 31. The totals are significantly different: 58,080 at I-695 and Charles Street; 2,322 in the Intercounty Connector work zone on I-95. The posted speed limits probably have a lot to do with that wide range. The lowest speed limits are 50 mph in the two zones on I-695. The highest one is 65 mph, in the connector’s work zone on I-95. Drivers have to be going at least 77 mph to get a camera ticket there, while the threshold for the Baltimore Beltway drivers is 62 mph. The speed limit hasn’t been reduced in the connector zone. It has been dropped from 55 to 50 in what the highway administration says is the much more congested environment of the Baltimore Beltway zones. But many drivers argue that the cameras should go dark when there’s no activity in the zone. First, I think drivers shouldn’t be deciding whether a highway work zone is active. But the zone itself is hazardous because the normal traffic alignment is disrupted. Traffic shifts or splits, barriers are up against the lanes, and the lanes are narrowed. The State Highway Administration, which is responsible for both workers and drivers in the zones, would just as soon have you keep your money in exchange for a safe reduction in speed. The highway officials note that four out of five people injured in work zone crashes are motorists.
Dr. Gridlock also appears Thursday in Local Living. Comments and questions are welcome and may be used in a column, along with the writer’s name and home community. Personal responses are not always possible.
To contact Dr. Gridlock: By mail: Write to Dr. Gridlock at The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071. By e-mail:
drgridlock@washpost.com. On the Dr. Gridlock blog: blog.
washingtonpost.com/dr-gridlock. On Twitter: drgridlock.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2010
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