Yes you, my lovely Virginia Department of transportation. I’ve been suffering through years of construction at the mixing bowl so that traffic would presumably move faster. I made sure that my commute was against traffic. I trusted you when you said that the construction would make things better.
Yesterday, all I wanted to do was vote. Knowing I had a half-hour commute and it was raining, I gave myself an extra hour. The radio said that traffic was moving slowly but I knew I had a lot of time. Then I got to about 50 feet from the 495 offramp. Where we stopped. And sat. And sat. And sat. Seven o’clock came and went and the polls closed. Eight o’clock, nine o’clock, ten o’clock. I began to wonder who would pay if I got a blood clot in my leg. I checked the weather-still just rain. Near freezing, yes, but just rain. I checked the news on the radio which helpfully told me that there would be delays and encouraged me to not let the weather keep me from voting. Maryland polls stayed open an extra hour and a half, then closed.
I assumed that there had been a terrible accident. I kept checking the news station. Finally I heard that they had shut down all the ramps because of freezing rain. Apparently, during this multimillion dollar construction, nobody bothered to realize that elevated offramps freeze before the rest of the road. Nobody looked at the weather forecast and thought-gee, let’s get some de-icing out there early. No, their solution was to close the ramps and let thousands of people sit for hours.
Luckily, my ramp opened up and after winding my way around all the stalled semis, I finally got home a little after midnight. When I finally crossed the ramp, it had not been de-iced or sanded. Way to go, DOT!
As a corollary, I want to talk to you Miss Plymouth Neon with the “I bleed Hoya blue” bumper sticker". You knew I was trying to get over into your lane since there was a cop behind me. Thanks so much for inching forward to block me TWICE, while the cop ran his siren and honked to get me to move. Did you ever finish that Suduko you were working on while we waited? Were you aware that at one point I even contemplated getting out of my car and just handing you a twenty to let me in? I hope it was worth it to stay stuck in front of me for the next four hours.
Ahh, Virgina - land of a DOT that’s decided that No Left Turn signs next to onramps would be a really fabulous way to spend public money. I mean, besides all the idiotic laws and threatening construction signs (SLOW DOWN!!! WE MEAN IT!!! (no, I’m not kidding)), who really thinks that people merging onto the interstate need to be reminded that they really shouldn’t make a hard left across three to six lanes of traffic? The Mighty State of Virginia, that’s who.
psychobunny, I’m with you all the way. It took me two and a half hours to move three miles because all the bridges in the Annapolis area were shut down all evening. I eventually turned around and went to have dinner with another stranded friend.
I called WTOP’s talkback line today and they played my grievances on the air. One guy who called in was spot-on, though: Every time something like this happens, VDOT says they were blindsided and that this is a lesson learned. But they never learn their lesson. Same goes for the Maryland State Highway Administration.
I’m sorry you didn’t get to vote. (Or maybe depending on who you were going to vote for, I shouldn’t be sorry. :D)
Virginia does love signs, especially at the border. You are greeted with “Welcome to Virginia!” then “Buckle Up! It’s Our Law!” then “Slow Down! It’s Still 65!” then “Radar Detectors Illegal” then “Wipers on, Lights on” then “DUI, You can’t afford it” and a couple more
I’m like Holy Christ on crutches, wouldn’t it be easier if Virginia simply provided a copy of the state code in a newspaper box alongside the highway that I could peruse at my leisure.
My sympathies… I heard about the ramp shutdowns last night as I was stuck in traffic myself (1 hour to make a 15-minute commute - now I don’t feel so bad). I would have gone ballistic! What if you had to pee? Closing down the ramps is just ludicrous. Total bullshit. I want to see someone take responsibility for this monumental failure.
Quoi? It’s not a big stretch of the imagination given the current controversy in that other thread, but hey, maybe I will. Crazies are always good in bed.
I gotta tell you…if you live in the outer suburbs of the DC Metro Area, you would be wise to take alternate routes (better yet, not the “main” alternate route) if there is even a hint of inclement weather. Don’t depend on VDOT or the traffic report. You will be screwed if you take the usual route. Period.
I won’t drive on I95 between the Pentagon and The Occoquan in July, during the day, in dry weather.
I won’t tell my alternates, though.
The crap that was built to “improve” traffic south of Washington DC is difficult to even believe. And there is more on the way, be sure, as new bridges are added to bring Maryland traffic in to join in on the fun more “efficiently” than now.
Heck, even in 1998 it wasn’t as bad as 95’s exit from the belt way Baltimore-bound today, where you think there are three lanes going out of the beltway but they don’t tell you that all of the lanes are new lanes.
Tuesday night. 2 hours with I-395 essentially closed.
Getting into work this morning - 1.25 hours. Please, if your car is going to stop working, don’t use the 14th street bridge. You pissed a lot of people off…
And that graphic is about as readable as it’s gonna get. I live quite near this interchange and go through parts of it several times a week. There is (or was) a model of the before and after versions of it at Springfield Mall, and even though I know the area relatively well, I couldn’t follow all the ramps on the 3D model!
(Or maybe depending on who you were going to vote for, I shouldn’t be sorry. :D)