Virginia

[mtfallsmikey]

I remember that ramp very well, and looks like a 66 Chevelle in the Beltway lane

[cpzilliacus]

The Washington Post has this rendering of one of the "Active Traffic Management" gantries planned for I-66. I cannot imagine VDOT ever allowing different speed limits for different lanes absent some sort of barrier like the one on the Beltway.

Might as as well make those STOPPED TRAFFIC 2 MILES panels static, since that is normal for I-66 eastbound, even well outside of traditional peak commute periods.

[mtfallsmikey]

And I also remember when the traffic was very light on 66, like the ICC is currently.

[1995hoo]

I-66 presents something of a conundrum in that the eastbound road narrows, with little to no room available to widen it, right at the area where the congestion is usually the worst (from Fair Oaks Mall to the Beltway).

BTW, construction is underway to widen it from Gainesville west to Haymarket, jersey walls set up along the side of the road. When we went out that way on November 1, some construction worker was standing in the left lane with no sort of protective cones or flares or anything. I have no idea what he was doing–he was bent over holding some kind of machine that looked a little like a video camera or a radar gun, but why he was bent over to near ground level was beyond me, and the lane wasn't closed!

Sometimes it feels like construction on that road never ends. When I was an undergrad at UVA about 20 years ago, they were widening it from Fair Oaks west to Manassas. Then it was Manassas to the Prince William Parkway maybe ten years ago now. (I forget the exact timing, but I do recall VDOT initially refused to start the widening because they had designated the project area as going all the way to Gainesville and they only had the funding to widen it to the Prince William Parkway. Governor Warner, to his credit IMO, ordered them to go ahead and widen the part for which they had the funding.) Some years later they extended the widening to Gainesville. Now, of course, the big Gainesville project to elevate Route 29 over the train tracks and to construct an interchange at Linton Hall Road isn't really an I-66 project, but it sure "feels like" one because so much of the I-66 traffic exits there.

I used to think it would make sense to defer the I-66 widening to Haymarket until the Gainesville Route 29 project is complete so as to allow for an assessment of whether eliminating the railroad crossing and the traffic lights alleviates I-66 enough to eliminate the need for the widening. But then I drove down US-15 from Gilberts Corner to I-66 one day and saw how much new development there is out there in the past ten years. The widening is needed either way.

[mtfallsmikey]

It's called poor planning... HOV lanes should have been extended to Haymarket originally IMO on 66, same thing with the Leesburg Bypass widening project on Rt. 7 going on currently, should extend the new 3rd lane to Purcellville, but what do I know?

[1995hoo]

It's called poor planning... HOV lanes should have been extended to Haymarket originally IMO on 66, same thing with the Leesburg Bypass widening project on Rt. 7 going on currently, should extend the new 3rd lane to Purcellville, but what do I know?

I don't think the funding existed to widen it out to Haymarket before. Same issue that caused the Manassas-to-Gainesville segment to be split into two phases.

[cpzilliacus]

Bacon's Rebellion: Optimism Bias and Risk in Public Private Partnerships

Randy Salzman, a free-lance Charlottesville writer, has spent the last couple of years trying to understand how Public Private Partnerships (P3s) work in Virginia. If the private sector is supposed to be so much more efficient than government, he asks, how  come so many big P3 transportation projects in Virginia and across the nation have gone bankrupt? Why do private sector companies continue investing in similar projects despite the obvious risk? And what exposure do taxpayers when deals go bad? He doesn't have any definitive answers, but he lays out a lot of good questions in the latest issue of Style Weekly.

Salz, an occasional contributor to Bacon's Rebellion, gets closest to the truth when he mentions the "optimism bias"  in traffic forecasts. In project after project across the country, private P3 companies and  their government partners have over-estimated traffic volumes on the roads they build.

[cpzilliacus]

N.Y. Times: Virginia Sues Trinity Industries Over Potentially Risky Guardrail

Virginia is suing the guardrail maker Trinity Industries, saying that it sold the state thousands of pieces of potentially dangerous, improperly tested and unapproved products.

The suit makes Virginia the first governmental entity to participate in whistle-blower suits against Trinity, which is based in Dallas. The suits were brought on behalf of state and federal governments, but none of those entities, until now, have been plaintiffs.

In October, a jury found that Trinity had defrauded the federal government when it did not inform the Federal Highway Administration of changes it made to the guardrail, the ET-Plus, in 2005. The company sold the guardrails to state governments, which, in turn, received federal reimbursement.

The jury returned with a verdict for $175 million, which will, by law, be tripled, to $525 million. The highway agency did not participate in the federal case.

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Post: Officials to consider road widening, HOT lanes through Arlington portion of I-66

Virginia transportation officials are studying a series of traffic improvements for the perpetually congested portion of Interstate 66 inside the Beltway, an effort that may include road widening and the addition of high-occupancy toll lanes – and would require buy-in from historically resistant Arlington County.

"We've got their agreement to work through this process,"  Aubrey Layne, the commonwealth's secretary of transportation, said Friday, referring to Arlington. Layne said that creating toll roads, improving rail capacity and adding bus lanes would also likely be parts of the solution.

"In terms of what may result from it, obviously we're constrained physically,"  he said. "I can see maybe creating an additional lane using the shoulders, but I don't see a whole lot of additional right of way there."

The leafy and narrow portion of I-66 that runs inside the Beltway has been choked with traffic for decades – a period punctuated with calls to widen that portion of the highway and resistance from Arlington County out of concern that it would lead to more noise, pollution and traffic.

In 1970, Arlington residents filed a lawsuit to block the highway's construction, but the suit was thrown out. Even so, opposition delayed construction inside the Beltway until 1977, when an agreement was reached to build four lanes while prohibiting truck traffic in the corridor.

[cl94]

I have a question about I-77 near the North Carolina line. I was looking at Google Maps and noticed that the dashed lines are spaced very closely with an excessive amount of reflectors from the border to the top of the hill. Any reason why the line spacing is so unusual?

[Mapmikey]

fog

[1995hoo]

fog

Indeed. Do a Google search for "I-77 fancy gap fog" and you'll find a lot of info. Make sure you look at the image search results, too.

It has to do with the Blue Ridge Escarpment. I-64 has a fog problem at Afton Mountain west of Charlottesville for similar reasons.

[Mapmikey]

I've only driven I-77 a couple times (with no issues) but I have definitely been caught in the I-64 Afton fog.  Cannot see 5 feet in front of you.  Doesn't matter if the valleys on both sides are perfectly clear...driving faster than 10 mph in the Afton fog is endangering yourself...

Mapmikey

[74/171FAN]

There was a 95-car pileup there on Easter Sunday last year, and that is just one of many that have happened over the years.  I would not even let myself drive through overnight just due to that.

[1995hoo]

Yesterday I had lunch in Reston with my father and brother. Driving out there, I noted the main toll plaza on the Dulles Toll Road–at which the toll is $2.50–still has toll-machine "Coins Only" lanes. Given that there are no tokens the way there used to be in New York City, this seemed really stupid to me. I don't know whether the machines accept half-dollars or dollar coins, but even if they do, how many people actually have those in the car? (I suppose someone truly dedicated to not getting an E-ZPass might do that, but somehow I doubt it's common.) I do suspect it's more likely they take dollar coins than half-dollars. Either way, though, assume they take both. If you don't have half-dollars or dollar coins, you need to have ten quarters available or even more in the way of nickels and dimes. How many drivers actually do that? I should note the "Coins Only" lanes were unused when I went through there except by E-ZPass users who went through without slowing.

[cpzilliacus]

Yesterday I had lunch in Reston with my father and brother. Driving out there, I noted the main toll plaza on the Dulles Toll Road–at which the toll is $2.50–still has toll-machine "Coins Only" lanes. Given that there are no tokens the way there used to be in New York City, this seemed really stupid to me. I don't know whether the machines accept half-dollars or dollar coins, but even if they do, how many people actually have those in the car? (I suppose someone truly dedicated to not getting an E-ZPass might do that, but somehow I doubt it's common.) I do suspect it's more likely they take dollar coins than half-dollars. Either way, though, assume they take both. If you don't have half-dollars or dollar coins, you need to have ten quarters available or even more in the way of nickels and dimes. How many drivers actually do that? I should note the "Coins Only" lanes were unused when I went through there except by E-ZPass users who went through without slowing.

I believe MWAA is taking out all of its exact change lanes and machines for the reasons you cite above, though they are doing them one interchange at a time (I saw them working on it at the miserable and miserably deficient interchange at Va. 286 (Fairfax County Parkway) last month).

[1995hoo]

Yesterday I had lunch in Reston with my father and brother. Driving out there, I noted the main toll plaza on the Dulles Toll Road–at which the toll is $2.50–still has toll-machine "Coins Only" lanes. Given that there are no tokens the way there used to be in New York City, this seemed really stupid to me. I don't know whether the machines accept half-dollars or dollar coins, but even if they do, how many people actually have those in the car? (I suppose someone truly dedicated to not getting an E-ZPass might do that, but somehow I doubt it's common.) I do suspect it's more likely they take dollar coins than half-dollars. Either way, though, assume they take both. If you don't have half-dollars or dollar coins, you need to have ten quarters available or even more in the way of nickels and dimes. How many drivers actually do that? I should note the "Coins Only" lanes were unused when I went through there except by E-ZPass users who went through without slowing.

I believe MWAA is taking out all of its exact change lanes and machines for the reasons you cite above, though they are doing them one interchange at a time (I saw them working on it at the miserable and miserably deficient interchange at Va. 286 (Fairfax County Parkway) last month).

Thanks. I wasn't aware of that. Seems to me the ramp tolls, where the charge is $1.00, would be more logical places to consider maintaining an exact coins option than the main toll plaza where it's $2.50.

On a semi-related note, my father was riding with me and we both commented on how absurd the signs for the main toll plaza are because the amount of the toll is displayed in the SMALLEST typeface anywhere on the sign. We both thought that information should be most prominent info, especially for people who plan to pay cash. Very strange how the signs there are designed. Maybe they ought to hire Transurban to redo the signs. Regardless of one's opinion on the PPTA projects, I think it's reasonable to say Transurban did a good job with the BGSs they've posted at the various interchanges (once they fixed the "exit tab on the wrong side" problem on several of their new signs, anyway).

[mtantillo]

The goal is to get E-ZPass Only lanes in. If you take exact change on the ramps, you still have to have a full service lane, and therefore you can't have an E-ZPass only lane. One of the other reasons for the replacement is to replace the ancient treadles with electronic classification loops. Those are much more durable, as the treadles were not designed for high speed traffic.

[oscar]

If you don't have half-dollars or dollar coins, you need to have ten quarters available or even more in the way of nickels and dimes. How many drivers actually do that?

Just one data point, but I have quarter dispensers from the Container Store in the consoles of both my car and my truck, that take up to around $6 in quarters.  They once came in handy for situations like that, especially when I was outside E-ZPass or SunPass territory.  I still use them, but mainly for parking meters and laundry.

My former 1996 BMW 328i had dispensers for quarters, dimes, and nickels built into its console.

[1995hoo]

Yeah, my Acura has a coin holder and I do have some coins in it, but I have no idea how much it holds. Never bothered to count.

[mtantillo]

The Verrazano Bridge in NYC had "toll machines" up to when the cash toll was $7. That's 28 quarters!

[cpzilliacus]

Virginian-Pilot/HamptonRoads.Com: Chesapeake leaders: Don't toll new High-Rise Bridge

One of the region's worst Interstate chokepoints is due for a major expansion, with a new, eight-lane High-Rise Bridge as the centerpiece.

City leaders, while eager for the relief, sent a message last week about what they don't want in the final product: tolls.

Council members unanimously approved a resolution that said user fees - even if assessed on only some traffic lanes - would hamper economic activity in the region and create a financial burden for residents and business owners.

Their wishes appear to be headed for a financial reality check when state and regional officials begin discussing how to pay for a project that is estimated to cost around $2 billion.

Virginia Secretary of Transportation Aubrey Layne said building a new High-Rise Bridge and adding lanes to a sizeable stretch of I-64 in Chesapeake without tolls is possible but not likely.

One wrinkle that figures to be raised in the discussion is how much the state might have to pay the private operator of the Downtown and Midtown tunnels if an expanded High-Rise Bridge is built with no tolls. The state's 58-year contract with Elizabeth River Crossings, the tunnel operator, allows the company to seek compensation from the state if it can prove that a new river crossing has siphoned motorists from the tunnels and damaged ERC's bottom line.

Layne said he expects the High-Rise project to be based on what's best for traffic and financing there, not on how much exposure the state might face with ERC. But, he said, tolling additional lanes at the High-Rise Bridge would mitigate that exposure.

[Takumi]

I'd be surprised if there were no tolls on the new bridge.

[cpzilliacus]

Bacon's Rebellion: Is VDOT Flooding Mathews County?

The Virginia Department of Transportation's road maintenance program in Mathews County, you could say, has driven into a ditch. Over the years, VDOT has failed to properly maintain roadside ditches in the county, with the consequence that many now fail in their function of draining water into the tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay, contends Carol J. Bova, community activist and author of "Drowning a County,"  published this year.

The repercussions of inadequate drainage are surprisingly far-reaching, according to Bova. When roads block natural drainage into rivers and streams, water builds up in land that once was dry, inundating and harming forests and septic systems. Ill-maintained ditches create standing water that breeds mosquitoes and allows the build-up of sometimes-toxic cyanobacteria. Stagnant ditch water also accumulates muck and invites invasive species. Receiving waters lose a source of oxygen-rich rainwater, and marshes lose a source of sediment that allow them to survive sea-level rise. Most counter-productively of all, inundation of soil around the roads accelerates the deterioration of VDOT-maintained roadbeds. The cost of poor maintenance is silent but extensive.

Bova and fellow activist G.C. Morrow have led a campaign to clean up the ditches of Mathews County but have encountered stiff bureaucratic resistance from VDOT, they say. The transportation agency contends that the problem isn't the quality of roadside ditches. Mathews County is too flat to drain, and inundation is increasing because of sea level rise.

[mtantillo]

Virginia has a new "Welcome to Virginia" sign.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dr-gridlock/wp/2015/01/06/millions-of-travelers-may-have-no-idea-dulles-airport-is-in-virginia/

I don't like it.