District of Columbia

[Alex]

Read this on the Yahoo! Groups today:

http://cms.transportation.org/sites/route/docs/AASHTO-FHWA%20DC%20I-295%20and%20I-695.pdf


The request addresses the truncation of Interstate 295 from Capital Boulevard southward to the Anacostia Freeway and extends Interstate 695 southeast in its place. It also covers the elimination of unbuilt Interstate 295 mileage for the canceled freeway leading northeast near RFK Stadium.

[mightyace]

The link as shown didn't work.  I pieced it together though.

http://cms.transportation.org/sites/route/docs/AASHTO-FHWA%20DC%20I-295%20and%20I-695.pdf

[Chris]

Uhm, what about I-695 in Maryland already existing? Wouldn't that confuse people, an I-695 in DC and in Baltimore? I thought they wanted to avoid identical numbers close to eachother...

[vdeane]

I don't think I-695 in DC is signed as an interstate.

[Alex]

The current one is unsigned as Interstate 695; signs instead indicate the connections to Interstate 295 or 395.

[74/171FAN]

BTW I wouldn't know any confusion over I-295 and MD 295(the Baltimore-Washington Pkwy once it leaves the National Park Service section).

[Bryant5493]

Quick question: I've looked up Baltimore-Washington Parkway? Why is the section between MD 201 and MD 295 maintained by the NPS? Is there a park or something that the freeway runs through, or what?


Be well,

Bryant

[Bryant5493]

^^ Oh, okay. Thanks a lot, froggie.

Be well,

Bryant

[74/171FAN]

DC metro area now ranks second to Los Angeles in congestion  http://www.dgshi.cn/content/200907/081084.html

[Chris]

Not really a surprise, if you think about it. Recession kicks in, people losing jobs and drive less. However, the government (DC) will keep running, so DC metro is probably less impacted by the recession, so traffic congestion doesn't decrease like other places.

[74/171FAN]

There's also the BRAC realignment into Ft Belvoir coming soon so that's another factor into rising congestion there

[froggie]

There are several BRAC realignments at play...but those haven't occurred yet so they wouldn't have had an impact on traffic around here.

I'd also like to point out that MWCOG (the regional MPO) did a recent traffic study that runs somewhat counter to the Texas A&M study...

[Alex]

When did the District of Columbia add exit numbers to Interstate 395?

Unnumbered exit in early 2008: https://www.aaroads.com/mid-atlantic/district_of_columbia/i-395_sb_exit_002a_01.jpg

Now Exit 5: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=washington,+dc&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=52.505328,78.662109&ie=UTF8&ll=38.882515,-77.016413&spn=0.012728,0.02738&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=38.882523,-77.016595&panoid=Qy9xZpunxaqXzheYGEaeLQ&cbp=12,251.65,,0,12.83

Does anyone have an exit number list posted?

[74/171FAN]

When did the District of Columbia add exit numbers to Interstate 395?

I'm not sure but I know they were there when I went with my family to see the Nats back in July

[WillWeaverRVA]

The numbers have been there for several months. They were there in April when I passed through.

[Alex]

I never noticed this stub on the southbound D.C. 295 before: http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=38.884527~-76.96327&style=h&lvl=17&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1

Any ideas of what was its intended use was?

[Alps]

http://www.roadstothefuture.com/DC_Interstate_Fwy.html remarkably does NOT have this one in there.  I noticed it before and I'm, pardon the semi-pun, stumped.

[froggie]

The exit numbers on I-395 were installed middle of last year.  There was a discussion on Tim Reichard's Clinched Highway Mapping forum on the subject.

The stub on DC 295 was intended for the mid-90s planned but never built Barney Circle Connector, which would've been a 4-lane freeway extension from Barney Circle across the river...the DC 295 bridge over the railroad was rehabbed back in the mid-90s, when the connector was also being planned.  Instead, the "missing movements" between the Southeast Freeway and DC 295 will be added as part of the 11th Street Bridge project.

[mefailenglish]

11th Street Bridge construction moves forward:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dc/2009/09/11th_street_bridge_plans_get_i.html?hpid=topnews

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Post: D.C. raises record amount of revenue from parking tickets

[cpzilliacus]

GreaterGreaterWashington: 6-year study suggests tweaks around 14th Street bridges

Near the Jefferson Memorial, 5 bridges cross the Potomac carrying motor vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, the Metro, and freight and passenger trains. How can they be improved?

The Federal Highway Administration, DDOT, VDOT, and the National Park Service have been working on an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the 14th Street Bridge corridor since 2006. They looked at the roads and paths on the bridges themselves and for some distance on and around I-395 and Route 1 (14th Street and Jefferson Davis Highway).

[cpzilliacus]

D.C. Examiner: D.C. looks to let demand set parking rates

[froggie]

On a different note, for those who like old-school pedestrian signals, they still exist at 13th and Pennsylvania NW.  There's a few others I noticed today in Capitol Hill East that, while more modern, don't have the countdown signals that most DC signals have.

[1995hoo]

Dr. Gridlock reports DC is adding some new speed camera locations.

The most notable ones are on both sides of I-395 near Exit 4 (eastbound, that's the exit marked "Maine Avenue/SW Waterfront/Nationals Park"; westbound, it's where the road splits with Maine Avenue and 12th Street traffic exiting to the right). The speed limit there is 40 mph and if you try to drive that slowly you put yourself in serious danger. It's unclear whether that's going to be a fixed or mobile camera location. Dr. Gridlock linked DC's listing of camera sites, and that list indicates mobile, but I noted a number of other instances of outdated information and flat-out mistakes on DC's list.

[oscar]

Dr. Gridlock reports DC is adding some new speed camera locations.

The most notable ones are on both sides of I-395 near Exit 4 (eastbound, that's the exit marked "Maine Avenue/SW Waterfront/Nationals Park"; westbound, it's where the road splits with Maine Avenue and 12th Street traffic exiting to the right). The speed limit there is 40 mph and if you try to drive that slowly you put yourself in serious danger. It's unclear whether that's going to be a fixed or mobile camera location.

That location is on the commuting route to the U.S. Capitol of many congresscritters and their staffers who live in Virginia.  It'll be interesting to see what kind of blowback comes from them, once they start getting tickets in the mail.

Eastbound, that location for a time had a temporary work zone speed limit of 45mph, higher than the regular limit of 40mph.  I take that as yet more evidence that the 40mph limit is underposted, as D.C. is wont to do.