Why does VDOT continue to screw us? They promised no less than four lanes in each direction during rush hour during Hot Lane construction. Now, the inner loop is just three under 66 and a mess every morning.

Because VDOT lies. Or can't properly plan. Most likely a combination.

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That's not a ladybug, that's a cannapiller.

They did that to make you ask questions. Looks like it worked.

Because if they told the truth up front, it never would have been approved. I'm sure somewhere there is an engineering report that says four lanes during construction was possible. But odds are if you read the details it says it's not probable. Bureaucrats and politicians aren't engineers, but I'm sure the have no problem blaming them.

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http://bible.cc/1_corinthians/13-11.htm

Maybe if people wouldn't be so opposed to a mass transportation system that actually works the whole area wouldn't be in this mess...

But I guess there are too many assholes that feel entitled to drive for fun that it means VDOT spends more time trying to make the roads workable instead of providing affordable constant and timely transportation for everyone.

The amount we spend on cars+gas+taxes+road maintenance+car maintenance+insurance is ridiculous and irresponsible as Citizens and irresponsible on the part of the Authorities.

Assholes get off the road and it won't matter if it's 1,2,3, or 10 lanes.

Quit being part of the problem and the environment will become a lot better, there will be fewer cars on the road, there will be a mass transportation system that WORKS, and we'll be more productive instead of sitting in traffic because some asshole is aggressive and flipped his car trying to get to work 5 minutes earlier.

...aggressive? What is more aggravating that that is some douche holding up traffic going 52 - yes, 52 mph in a 65 zone!

A Chevy Volt was going 52 mph on the express lanes of 395 near Landmark this morning at 5:15.

I had left w/ plenty of time to make my flight from National, but that driver was still a serious douche for causing ALL vehicles to jam their brakes and move around, causing others to jam their brakes.

Douche!

Where on I-395 is the posted speed limit 65?

say Wrote:
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> Where on I-395 is the posted speed limit 65?


The express lanes, until just before the Pentagon

Regular lanes are posted at 55 MPH

RE "But I guess there are too many assholes that feel entitled to drive for fun"??? It is fun to drive the Beltway at Rush Hour. I live in Burke and work in Rockville. Mass transit = 3+ hrs. Makes roads and then do development. Tolls and Metro will not solve the Tyson’s mess.

Tom OOBBEE Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> RE "But I guess there are too many assholes that
> feel entitled to drive for fun"??? It is fun to
> drive the Beltway at Rush Hour. I live in Burke
> and work in Rockville. Mass transit = 3+ hrs.
> Makes roads and then do development. Tolls and
> Metro will not solve the Tyson’s mess.


And that is the biggest problem. The roads were fine at the time but now the areas around have been overdevloped for what the roads can handle and nothing was done to widen the roads prior to all that.

Maybe instead of living in Burke where there absolutely no jobs, you can buy a smaller place closer to your job (Im not telling to living Maryland cause thats disgusting) but you could live in Falls Church, Vienna, or Tysons Corner. It takes 10 minutes in the morning to get to the 270 from Tysons, in the evening it usually is 20-25 unless you leave 30 minutes early.

As a transportation engineer I am telling you right now there is a huge diminishing return with the addition of more lanes, for massive projects your point is basically 3 lanes before the cost and maintenance make widening a road completely illogical compared to other forms of improvements (ie the same cost over 20 years as providing a comparable metro system). The problem is politicians make the calls on which projects get built and what is needed and not planners and engineers and that is why we have the fucked up infrastructure network in this region and frankly in most places in america.

The point is, take responsibility for your own shitty commute, you chose to live in a place where you knew there are no corporate jobs essentially causing yourself to have atleast a 1 hour commute just so you could upsize to that bigger unit instead of decreasing the amount of shit you just have to store in your monstrosity, and downsizing to a townhouse or GOD FORBID a nice condo. Kids and dogs dont care how much space you have in a house, they care if they get to see you for longer than 20 minutes before you go to sleep in order to wake up butt early and do it all over again.

That being said VDOT is total crap, what they did with the ramp at route 66 and 495 was criminal and they are lucky as hell they didnt have a fatality occur there the last year because they would have faced a multi million dollar law suit. VDOT again is another example of a department run by appointed cronies instead of developing people and promoting them because of good and cost saving work.

Also your full of shit, Burke to Rockville is not mass transit of 3+ hours. Have you ever even done that? My brother used to do Lee Chapel to Franconia metro, blue line up to Metro Center, have to usually wait 15 minutes for a transfer to redline (though redline back to Maryland is actually fairly easy to get depending on time of morning), and get off at Bethesda and get to work in 75 minutes from when he left his house. Your saying somehow from Bethesda to Rockville on the same line is 105 minutes minimum?

How bout instead of suffering through 2 hours of traffic tomorrow, because I know thats prolly your typical commute, you just give metro one chance to change your mind. Or are you one of those people that just has to mock metro because "a car is a symbol of freedom"

How will the Lexus lanes improve traffic?

The whole project reaks of a cluster fuck. Probably the brain child of that australian company that runs the tolls and sucks millions of dollars out of our economy.

As soon as thoose lanes open I'm starting an "occupy lanes" protest.

People who live in Burke cannot afford to live in Falls Church or Arlington. If they could they would.

Burke is lower to middle class.

Thats total crap, I lived in Burke for 20 years, I still know families who live in Burke, Lake Braddock is an affluent high school, Robinson is an affluent high school. The guy who lives in burke has a job in Rockville, which leads me to believe it is a corporate gig and not some 35k horsecrap that he could find anywhere. The problem is that they are middle to lower class, its that they make bad decisions. They want to live in a house that is bigger than they can afford. It's bigger than they can afford because they choose priorities like car instead of taking cheaper mass transit which doesnt cause a sunk capital cost, excessive maintenance cost, interest on loans, etc. There are 2 bedroom condos for sale at 220k to 300k all over falls church, merrifield, and Tysons even Rotonda and Pimmit Hills. I dont know that many places in Burke that are that cheap except the townhomes dating back to 1970s construction and even those are just comparably priced. There are no condos really in burke because who the hell would live in a condo in burke.

The point is, I call bullshit. You want the big house with nothing around it instead of the smaller townhouse or condo with lots of stuff around it. Which is fine, its bad enough we who live near the jobs have to pay for the maintenance that bankrupts our state for infrastructure maintenance but dont complain that your commute takes so long. Don't F with a developer/transportation engineer we can call your bullshit on this subject cause all we do is look at the facts all day.

Sell your house while you still can before its worthless with 5 dollar gas and "downsize" aka make your life better closer to the city.

Sell your house while you still can before it is worthless in Burke.

I live in Burke b/c of the VRE. My commute to the pentagon is a breeze.

There would not be enough units in the city to house all the commuters and their families. Suburbs are necessary.

To the obnoxious posters promoting public transportation, you are the reason folks choose not to partake in metro. I certainly would be repelled to spend my commute with people like you.

People's jobs and commutes often change over time. Selling your house is not always the wisest option therefore you opt to commute. The issue isn't as black and white as these posters are proposing.

Who the f mentioned Burke and Rockville? No-one in this thread.

Consequently, that is my commute and I'm not really complaining. I didn't choose the commute, it chose me as the result of situations that your whole, move closer to your job or you are an idiot doesn't really explain.

Whatever, I leave at 6:15 and it would take me 35 minutes. Again, I'm not complaining. However, I have to agree with the OP. What's with the 3 lanes crap? No matter when you leave it sucks now! And you don't think it's a problem, I seriously hope you have a heart attack tomorrow and are on your way to Fairfax hospital cardiovascular center and expire in the ambulance at 10:45am in traffic before Gallows Road. Traffic at that time should have nothing to do with the corporate elite. There's a problem here...
Attachments:

Roads, the mess you made Wrote:
--
> As a transportation engineer I am telling you
> right now there is a huge diminishing return with
> the addition of more lanes, for massive projects
> your point is basically 3 lanes before the cost
> and maintenance make widening a road completely
> illogical compared to other forms of improvements
> (ie the same cost over 20 years as providing a
> comparable metro system). The problem is
> politicians make the calls on which projects get
> built and what is needed and not planners and
> engineers and that is why we have the fucked up
> infrastructure network in this region and frankly
> in most places in america.

You ever tried to drive down 95 in the summer, particularly on Friday and Saturday? The entire 3 lanes of the road is jammed from here to Richmond, everybody gets off on 295 to go to 64. Drive that road and tell me 3 lanes is sufficient.

Screw you and your 95 south. The money for the roads is made in Northern Virginia so forgive me if I expect that my traffic is better than what those in Midlothian have to deal with. Oh, but still and I agree with your post thematically.

Sorry Tom OOBBEE, but I started this thread a week ago (and no-one give a damn)....

http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read/2/786446/788389.html#msg-788389

You need to know the End Game. Search "North America’s Corridor Coalition" in Google (i.e. NAFTA Super-Highway)

"The proposed highway is part of a broader plan advanced by a quasi-government organization called the “Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America,” or SPP.

The SPP was first launched in 2005 by the heads of state of Canada, Mexico, and the United States at a summit in Waco.

The SPP was not created by a treaty between the nations involved, nor was Congress involved in any way. Instead, the SPP is an unholy alliance of foreign consortiums and officials from several governments. One principal player is a Spanish construction company, which plans to build the highway and operate it as a toll road. But don't be fooled: the superhighway proposal is not the result of free market demand, but rather an extension of government-managed trade schemes like NAFTA that benefit politically-connected interests.

The real issue is national sovereignty. Once again, decisions that affect millions of Americans are not being made by those Americans themselves, or even by their elected representatives in Congress. Instead, a handful of elites use their government connections to bypass national legislatures and ignore our Constitution — which expressly grants Congress the sole authority to regulate international trade.

The ultimate goal is not simply a superhighway, but an integrated North American Union — complete with a currency, a cross-national bureaucracy, and virtually borderless travel within the Union. Like the European Union, a North American Union would represent another step toward the abolition of national sovereignty altogether.

A new resolution, introduced by Representative Virgil Goode of Virginia, expresses the sense of Congress that the United States should not engage in the construction of a NAFTA superhighway, or enter into any agreement that advances the concept of a North American Union. I wholeheartedly support this legislation, and predict that the superhighway will become a sleeper issue in the 2008 election.

Any movement toward a North American Union diminishes the ability of average Americans to influence the laws under which they must live. The SPP agreement, including the plan for a major transnational superhighway is moving forward without congressional oversight — and that is an outrage. The administration needs a strong message from Congress that the American people will not tolerate backroom deals that threaten our sovereignty." Ron Paul, October 31, 2006

Stones Wrote:
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> Screw you and your 95 south. The money for the
> roads is made in Northern Virginia so forgive me
> if I expect that my traffic is better than what
> those in Midlothian have to deal with. Oh, but
> still and I agree with your post thematically

Its Nova people going to the beach. Once they get to 295 they have a nice 4 lane road for a few miles



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/2012 11:17PM by KeepOnTruckin.

Remember -- BLAME the screwball Arlington County Board of Supervisors when all of the excellent HOT lanes initiatives are implemented -- except for their little piece of the picture. There will be future much worse traffic gridlock in Arlington because of these dumbasses.

They have refused for decades to allow I-66 east inside the beltway be expanded to at least 3 lanes. Even worse, they legally charged VDOT and the state with racism for proposing the HOT lanes to come up I-395 to D.C. No joke, they thought increased air pollution would adversely affect 'minorities' living near the highways. What do you think gives off more pollution -- vehicles at highways speeds, or idling vehicles stuck in total gridlock for hours? They are crazy, but that is exactly what they did. So now the new HOT lanes will end on I-395 at Edsall Road and there will be gridlock during each rush hour from Edsall Road to D.C. all along I-395.

Do not blame VDOT -- place blame where it belongs - the idiotic Arlington County Board of Supervisors.

Oh its a job selection that chose you? Still calling BS, Im sorry but you lived in Burke, there are absolutely no jobs in Burke unless you teach. So unless you teach in Rockville then I dont want to hear it. The point is, just cause you live in a place with no jobs dont complain it takes so long to go steal jobs from people who do live near jobs. Otherwise, good luck finding a job in Northern Virginia, no one is holding a gun against your head to continue to live in Burke or to continue to work in Rockville.

495 Inner Loop is a breeze at 545a. I enjoy driving 65-70mph on my way to Langley. Im 19 mi from work and it takes me 25 mins and 45 mins home Once school is out, you'll have 3 months of easy driving and then "BAM", back to shitsville in Sept.


Take the roads parallel to the highway if you hate it. Take 236E to Annandale Rd to 50 to GreatFalls St to 123 and get on the TollRd to the InnerLoop. I take this route when shit goes down on either loop at said time of day. Id rather drive 15 more minutes than be sitting in shit n go traffic.

The roads are under construction?? Deal with it, Suck it up


I live in Burke by choice. I prefer the mature neighborhoods with big ass trees. I Wont live in Cville where i grew up because 66 blows donkey dick.
(dont know how those people still drive that road day in day out)

Still whining Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Oh its a job selection that chose you? Still
> calling BS, Im sorry but you lived in Burke, there
> are absolutely no jobs in Burke unless you teach.
> So unless you teach in Rockville then I dont want
> to hear it. The point is, just cause you live in a
> place with no jobs dont complain it takes so long
> to go steal jobs from people who do live near
> jobs. Otherwise, good luck finding a job in
> Northern Virginia, no one is holding a gun against
> your head to continue to live in Burke or to
> continue to work in Rockville.

It's called being recruited dummy because I have skills. Like bow-staff skills.

Hey, I said I wasn't complaining about my commute. When I took the job, I found a way to make the commute work by leaving crazy early or taking back roads. The beltway was also 4 lanes when I took my job and now it's 3. I was bringing up the problem with the bottleneck this created and it has nothing to do with commuting to work. It's there all the time now and wasn't as bad before the change a month ago. Look at the map. That's what it's like mid-day. Then have an asthma attack, call an abulance and then die in traffic trying to get to Fairfax Hospital. But before you die, you can be proud of being a dick about not living in burke and defending idiots who fuck up the roads and care little about public safety.