Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[ixnay]

During rush hours, Canal Road is one way favoring the prevailing flow (except between AZ Ave. and Chain Bridge Road).  Do many motorists get confused with this restriction, especially since Canal Road looks so narrow? 

ixnay

[Alps]

During rush hours, Canal Road is one way favoring the prevailing flow (except between AZ Ave. and Chain Bridge Road).  Do many motorists get confused with this restriction, especially since Canal Road looks so narrow? 

ixnay

As a visitor who has been there during rush hour, no one seemed confused, but very few people at that time would be non-native.

[1995hoo]

The real danger is on the federal holidays that aren't widely observed by the private sector, such as Columbus Day and Veterans' Day, as well as DC's generally-unknown "Emancipation Day." Canal Road doesn't go to one-way operation those days, but drivers assume it does. Very dangerous when someone is legally going "against" the "prevailing" flow of traffic.

[cpzilliacus]

The real danger is on the federal holidays that aren't widely observed by the private sector, such as Columbus Day and Veterans' Day, as well as DC's generally-unknown "Emancipation Day." Canal Road doesn't go to one-way operation those days, but drivers assume it does. Very dangerous when someone is legally going "against" the "prevailing" flow of traffic.

Wonder why DDOT and predecessor agencies never bothered to put up more-sophisticated (electronic) signage warning drivers not to enter streets running  one-way?

They had  them on other reversible streets (the last one to go away was AM-only Constitution Avenue, N.E.), but  they had them on 13th Street, N.W. (went away in the late 1970's) and some other  streets.  They were all-red neon signs that read ONE WAY and had a flashing  arrow in the  direction the street was running (example here).  IIRC, there were also red neon text DO NOT ENTER signs where appropriate.

But these were never deployed along Canal Road, N.W., nor along Rock Creek Parkway, N.W. (obviously National Park Service-maintained). Nor along 17th Street, N.W. and the southernmost block of Connecticut Avenue, N.W. (I believe these are the only remaining reversible streets in D.C.).

[froggie]

obviously National Park Service-maintained)

Between this, the scenic qualities of the streets in question, and the Commission of Fine Arts, you'll probably find your answer...

[1995hoo]

He does raise a valid point as to 17 Street and the piece of Connecticut between H and I Streets. The only markings they have are some yellow-on-black one-way signs that include the one-way hours (signs that are easy to miss when there are lots of buses around, which is usually the case at Farragut Square) and occasional "Do Not Enter" signs with the hours posted below. There's also a lit-up "No Left Turn" sign on eastbound K, although those are common in the District where there are part-time turn restrictions.

17th is one where there were LOTS of people on autopilot on the left side of the road on Emancipation Day earlier this year when I crossed the street en route to work. It made me think for holidays the District ought to roll out portable message signs saying something like "Use Caution/Two-Way Traffic All Day Today," although people would still ignore them. I didn't see anyone going northbound that day, which is probably a good thing—the southbound drivers were going pretty fast and I'm certain there would have been an accident.

[cpzilliacus]

obviously National Park Service-maintained)

Between this, the scenic qualities of the streets in question, and the Commission of Fine Arts, you'll probably find your answer...

More likely federal law.  The Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway has been  reversible dating back to the 1940's (maybe before that).

EDIT: According to this, reversible peak-flow traffic operations (southbound in AM and northbound in PM) began in 1938.

[ixnay]

obviously National Park Service-maintained)

Between this, the scenic qualities of the streets in question, and the Commission of Fine Arts, you'll probably find your answer...

More likely federal law.  The Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway has been  reversible dating back to the 1940's (maybe before that).

I've seen photos from maybe the late '40s of afternoon Virginia bound traffic backing up getting to the 14th St. Bridge which IIRC was a single span at the time.

How did DC get so car crazy so early?

ixnay

[davewiecking]

Canal Road is owned by and maintained by DC. The C&O Canal is NPS. I think DC owns the stone wall that keeps the road from becoming one with the canal.

I commuted home frequently along Canal Road from mid-80's to mid-90's; it indeed never had the overhead X's and arrows, but in addition to neon Do Not Enter signs at the intersection with Foxhall Rd, it did have electric signs along the right shoulder that (when not obstructed by branches) would let you know how many lanes you should be using (either 1 or 2; there was no 0) with red neon tubes. The short stretch between Arizona Ave and Chain Bridge is 3 lanes (that would change at different points depending on morning/evening or regular), and that stretch had about as many "# of lanes signs" as the main stretch. There were also several signs facing each direction at the Arizona Ave intersection (more red neon). Long before those signs were removed, the numbers stopped lighting up properly. It was also said that the road's location in a valley wouldn't let the radio signal get through to change all the signs reliably.

Only once did I come around a bend in the left lane and find a car facing me. They'd already stopped and were pulled pretty far to the side. At that stretch, I can testify that the road is wide enough for 3 vehicles...

On Connecticut Ave one evening, a friend of mine was driving in the "rushhour left lane" and hit a vehicle that was turning left from the "normal left lane". Fortunately hit the front part of the driver's door at an angle, and nobody was seriously injured.

NPS owned reversible roads are generally controlled by motorcycle police and aesthetically-pleasing white sawhorses, which when not used to block traffic are of course left at the side of the road to add to the scenic quality of the area.

[1995hoo]

NPS owned reversible roads are generally controlled by motorcycle police and aesthetically-pleasing white sawhorses, which when not used to block traffic are of course left at the side of the road to add to the scenic quality of the area.

On the other side of Memorial Bridge at the traffic circle, they augment the sawhorses with orange traffic cones. The primary purpose of these barriers is to send all traffic coming up from I-395 and the Pentagon over the bridge so as to avoid locking up the circle and its approach (note the circle has the yields set up backwards so that traffic on the circle must yield to entering traffic). This spring and summer, the tour bus drivers during the morning rush hour have been either removing the cones or just flat-out driving right over them in order to make one of the prohibited maneuvers to get to the cemetery. Damn dangerous when you're coming around the circle and you're about to go onto the bridge and suddenly a bus abruptly drives across the cones directly in front of you to block your exit from the circle. The NPS police know about it but seem powerless to do anything to stop it.

[cpzilliacus]

NPS owned reversible roads are generally controlled by motorcycle police and aesthetically-pleasing white sawhorses, which when not used to block traffic are of course left at the side of the road to add to the scenic quality of the area.

On the other side of Memorial Bridge at the traffic circle, they augment the sawhorses with orange traffic cones. The primary purpose of these barriers is to send all traffic coming up from I-395 and the Pentagon over the bridge so as to avoid locking up the circle and its approach (note the circle has the yields set up backwards so that traffic on the circle must yield to entering traffic). This spring and summer, the tour bus drivers during the morning rush hour have been either removing the cones or just flat-out driving right over them in order to make one of the prohibited maneuvers to get to the cemetery. Damn dangerous when you're coming around the circle and you're about to go onto the bridge and suddenly a bus abruptly drives across the cones directly in front of you to block your exit from the circle. The NPS police know about it but seem powerless to do anything to stop it.

I hate that circle (formally Arlington Memorial Circle, S.W.) with a passion.  I have been through it in peak commute times and at off-peak times.  It is a crash-prone traffic engineering abomination. 

There was a contract let (I think by FHWA Eastern Federal Lands (Eastern Federal Lands used to have its own Web site that seems to have gone away)) to re-engineer the circle into a better-performing roundabout or something else (and an open house was held in 2015) but seems to have been forgotten for reasons not clear to me (though the NPS does have a Web site up for the project).  In my  fantasy world, the heavy repair work needed on the Arlington Memorial Bridge itself and remediating and upgrading the circle would be one big construction project.

Pedantic note: the federal police that patrol most National Park Service property in D.C. and nearby areas of Maryland and Virginia is formally known as the United States Park Police or U.S. Park Police for short, and they get touchy if called by some other name, including especially National Park Police and other variants.

[AlexandriaVA]

Commuters and locals handle the circle fine, not really a problem. Tourists shouldn't be driving it anyway. Would be more money wasted for a non-problem (just go slow if you have to get over real quick at the end).

[cpzilliacus]

Commuters and locals handle the circle fine, not really a problem. Tourists shouldn't be driving it anyway. Would be more money wasted for a non-problem (just go slow if you have to get over real quick at the end).

I strongly disagree.  Roads are for all, even tourists, even bicyclists, even pedestrians. And though I have not gone through  there as much as others that post here, I have seen crashes there (usually low-speed) involving what appeared to be commuters.

Beyond that, there is a lot of pedestrian and bike traffic there, and the current circle is quite pedestrian-hostile. 

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Post: Big trucks whizzing through D.C. neighborhoods signal city's fortune but residents' nightmare

As development has boomed in the District, so have commercial and construction traffic, much to the consternation of residents and other road users who complain the trucks and other heavy vehicles bring noise, fail to follow traffic rules and clog already narrow streets, creating safety concerns.

“You wake up and all you hear is truck noise. Truck noise!” Bill Yelverton, a resident of Brookland in Northeast Washington, told members of the D.C. Council at a community roundtable last month. “It starts at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning.”

After 23 years living near the intersection of 13th and Franklin streets NE, the past two years have been unbearable, he said. So much has the presence of commercial trucks troubled neighbors that they have put up #NOTRUCKSBrookland signs and overwhelmed the neighborhood email discussion group with complaints.

“We can’t get peace from the trucks,” Yelverton said. “Something should be done.”

D.C. officials say city regulations, including weight restrictions and designated truck routes, aim to strike a balance in which residents, road users and industry can coexist. But banning trucks altogether, even from streets where the uses are mostly residential, isn’t an effective, feasible or enforceable alternative. Trucks are essential to the city’s economy: They ferry an estimated $20 billion worth of goods into the city each year — ranging from construction materials to the food served in city restaurants.

[AlexandriaVA]

Just drove the circle today. No problems if you know where you're going and are willing to stick your nose out if/when changing lanes.

[cpzilliacus]

Just drove the circle today. No problems if you know where you're going and are willing to stick your nose out if/when changing lanes.

Never had a crash there either.  But that's not the point.  This is (what states used to call) a "high accident location," and NPS and FHWA EFL need to change it.

[davewiecking]

NPS owned reversible roads are generally controlled by motorcycle police and aesthetically-pleasing white sawhorses, which when not used to block traffic are of course left at the side of the road to add to the scenic quality of the area.

On the other side of Memorial Bridge at the traffic circle, they augment the sawhorses with orange traffic cones. The primary purpose of these barriers is to send all traffic coming up from I-395 and the Pentagon over the bridge so as to avoid locking up the circle and its approach (note the circle has the yields set up backwards so that traffic on the circle must yield to entering traffic). This spring and summer, the tour bus drivers during the morning rush hour have been either removing the cones or just flat-out driving right over them in order to make one of the prohibited maneuvers to get to the cemetery. Damn dangerous when you're coming around the circle and you're about to go onto the bridge and suddenly a bus abruptly drives across the cones directly in front of you to block your exit from the circle. The NPS police know about it but seem powerless to do anything to stop it.

Most of the circle is merely part of the a ceremonial entrance to Arlington Cemetery and sees very little traffic. Before being restriped, I believe it technically had the 3 lanes in the circle yielding to 2 lanes coming from Washington Blvd (VA-27).

There was a contract let (I think by FHWA Eastern Federal Lands (Eastern Federal Lands used to have its own Web site that seems to have gone away)) to re-engineer the circle into a better-performing roundabout or something else (and an open house was held in 2015) but seems to have been forgotten for reasons not clear to me (though the NPS does have a Web site up for the project).  In my  fantasy world, the heavy repair work needed on the Arlington Memorial Bridge itself and remediating and upgrading the circle would be one big construction project.

That last link leads to a fascinating series of what can seemingly be called "back of the napkin sketches done at Happy Hour" of different ideas for redoing the circle and associated ramps (including the GWMP, VA-27 and those leading to/from US-50. Thanks for digging that one up! (Note that this info could almost be posted in the recently-revived thread of Official Diagrams of Unbuilt Interchanges.)

[1995hoo]

Most of the circle is merely part of the a ceremonial entrance to Arlington Cemetery and sees very little traffic. Before being restriped, I believe it technically had the 3 lanes in the circle yielding to 2 lanes coming from Washington Blvd (VA-27).

During the morning rush hour it gets heavier use than you might think due to traffic coming from northbound Route 110 and the southbound GW Parkway, both of which have an exit ramp that connects to Memorial Drive across from the subway station entrance and then require you to use the circle to access the bridge (indeed this is why we come around the circle—we come up Route 1 and Route 110).

[cpzilliacus]

Most of the circle is merely part of the a ceremonial entrance to Arlington Cemetery and sees very little traffic. Before being restriped, I believe it technically had the 3 lanes in the circle yielding to 2 lanes coming from Washington Blvd (VA-27).

During the morning rush hour it gets heavier use than you might think due to traffic coming from northbound Route 110 and the southbound GW Parkway, both of which have an exit ramp that connects to Memorial Drive across from the subway station entrance and then require you to use the circle to access the bridge (indeed this is why we come around the circle—we come up Route 1 and Route 110).

Given the choice, I would much  rather use  VA-110 (northbound) or GWMP (southbound) to get to the  circle, given that the alternatives are northbound GWMP or eastbound VA-27 (Washington Boulevard), both of which are terrible.

[1995hoo]

For us, 110 is simply the easiest route (annoying stop sign at the top of the ramp notwithstanding) because we come up Route 1 through Old Town to take advantage of the HOV-2 lane and using 110 is the "least bad" way to the bridge. (Boundary Channel Drive to Route 27 would be better, but it's difficult to reach that road at rush hour coming from the south.)

[1995hoo]

He does raise a valid point as to 17 Street and the piece of Connecticut between H and I Streets. The only markings they have are some yellow-on-black one-way signs that include the one-way hours (signs that are easy to miss when there are lots of buses around, which is usually the case at Farragut Square) and occasional "Do Not Enter" signs with the hours posted below. There's also a lit-up "No Left Turn" sign on eastbound K, although those are common in the District where there are part-time turn restrictions.

17th is one where there were LOTS of people on autopilot on the left side of the road on Emancipation Day earlier this year when I crossed the street en route to work. It made me think for holidays the District ought to roll out portable message signs saying something like "Use Caution/Two-Way Traffic All Day Today," although people would still ignore them. I didn't see anyone going northbound that day, which is probably a good thing—the southbound drivers were going pretty fast and I'm certain there would have been an accident.

This morning while walking to the office I saw a guy driving the wrong way on 17 Street/Connecticut Avenue (he was on Connecticut between H and I but clearly intended to continue up 17th). Scary situation because the commuters go way too fast (which is not OK either for precisely this reason). Everyone was waving and yelling at him to turn around, but he pretty clearly didn't care, didn't speak English, or both. Never a cop around when you need one.

[BrianP]

On the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, four new lanes would extend from Baltimore to the District.

So what's the reaction from the DC government going to be to dumping more cars onto DC 295 and US 50? 

[Mergingtraffic]

This sign has been washed I think

[davewiecking]

On the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, four new lanes would extend from Baltimore to the District.

So what's the reaction from the DC government going to be to dumping more cars onto DC 295 and US 50?

(and possibly a few others)

[davewiecking]

This sign has been washed I think

Not going to be easy to find DC's I-95...whether one follows the arrow or not...