Virginia

[Alps]

The commission says the increases are needed to build a second Thimble Shoal Tunnel.

So does this mean they're actually going to build a second tunnel?

The timeline I'm familiar with says early to mid 2020s. Now's the time to start saving for it. As for why it's needed - how about plain simple redundancy? You can close one for maintenance, or if an accident happens, and still get traffic through.

[1995hoo]

Well...I am astonished by the images mapmikey and Takumi posted. Those signs seem way too intelligent and creative for VDOT–certainly for their Northern Virginia bureau, at least. When I made some signage-related suggestions at a community meeting a few years back they rejected them because they weren't in STRICT compliance with the MUCTD, so I kind of figured anything creative was not an option for them. (Essentially the VDOT rep said that if the proposed sign was not shown, as proposed, in the MUTCD, their policy was that they couldn't post it. Of course, we currently have a white sign on a Beltway exit where the MUTCD calls for green....)

[deathtopumpkins]

Oh I absolutely agree that it is needed, Steve.

[Alex]

AP via WBOC-TV: Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel Tolls to Rise in 2014

Another article on the toll increase published today:

Chesapeake Bridge-Tunnel hikes tolls

The cost to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel will increase by an average of 10 percent on Jan. 1.

The toll for passenger cars, now $12, will go up to $13 during off-peak periods and $15 during peak periods, defined as Fridays through Sundays between May 15 and Sept. 15.

The 24-hour return toll of $5 will be $3 for peak periods.

The vote also instituted a commuter toll as of Jan. 1 of $5 each way for 30 or more one-way trips within 30 days. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel Commission approved the new schedule 7-2.

The original span and tunnels turn 50 next year.

The commission in May approved speeding up the massive tunnel construction project but did not formally approve the rate hike officials say is needed to pay for it.

[NJRoadfan]

Still a bargain compared to crossing the Hudson River on a PANYNJ crossing! That entire facility is close to 20 miles end to end so the per mile cost is actually quite low.

[cpzilliacus]

WTOP Radio: Va. lawmaker claims transportation dollars are being misspent

A Virginia lawmaker is suing an agency responsible for doling out money under a sweeping transportation package passed by the General Assembly this year.

Delegate Bob Marshall filed the lawsuit Thursday, claiming the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority is misusing tax dollars.

[1995hoo]

The NVTA has also filed a declaratory judgment action in Fairfax County asking the Circuit Court to rule that the bonds the Authority plans to issue comply with the authorizing statutes. The issue of "demonstrated congestion relief" may be contested in that case because the Authority apparently may be trying to ignore that requirement.

[cpzilliacus]

The NVTA has also filed a declaratory judgment action in Fairfax County asking the Circuit Court to rule that the bonds the Authority plans to issue comply with the authorizing statutes. The issue of "demonstrated congestion relief" may be contested in that case because the Authority apparently may be trying to ignore that requirement.

I heard about that suit elsewhere.  Is it correct to say that Virginia law requires a lawsuit to be filed by the NVTA (and presumably ruled on by a Fairfax County Circuit Court judge) before the NVTA can sell its bonds?

[1995hoo]

The NVTA has also filed a declaratory judgment action in Fairfax County asking the Circuit Court to rule that the bonds the Authority plans to issue comply with the authorizing statutes. The issue of "demonstrated congestion relief" may be contested in that case because the Authority apparently may be trying to ignore that requirement.

I heard about that suit elsewhere.  Is it correct to say that Virginia law requires a lawsuit to be filed by the NVTA (and presumably ruled on by a Fairfax County Circuit Court judge) before the NVTA can sell its bonds?

I don't know, but the fact that they filed it definitely implies that you are correct.

[1995hoo]

From what I saw in today's paper, it sounds as though Marshall may have filed a responsive pleading in the NVTA's case rather than his own lawsuit.

[cpzilliacus]

From what I saw in today's paper, it sounds as though Marshall may have filed a responsive pleading in the NVTA's case rather than his own lawsuit.

And we should remember that like Marshall or not, he won the last time he sued the NVTA.

[D-Dey65]

Still a bargain compared to crossing the Hudson River on a PANYNJ crossing! That entire facility is close to 20 miles end to end so the per mile cost is actually quite low.

Be that as it may, it doesn't make sense to have two different toll rates based on the time of day. If it's going to be $13 or $15, it should be that way 24/7.

[froggie]

Be that as it may, it doesn't make sense to have two different toll rates based on the time of day. If it's going to be $13 or $15, it should be that way 24/7.

Why not?  If traffic is heavier during a certain time of day (or day of week), it makes sense to charge a higher toll during those busier times.  Classic supply-and-demand concept example.

[cpzilliacus]

Be that as it may, it doesn't make sense to have two different toll rates based on the time of day. If it's going to be $13 or $15, it should be that way 24/7.

Why not?  If traffic is heavier during a certain time of day (or day of week), it makes sense to charge a higher toll during those busier times.  Classic supply-and-demand concept example.

Adam, I strongly agree.  Highway capacity during periods of peak demand has value, and should be accordingly priced.

[cpzilliacus]

Another article on the toll increase published today:

Chesapeake Bridge-Tunnel hikes tolls

The cost to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel will increase by an average of 10 percent on Jan. 1.

The toll for passenger cars, now $12, will go up to $13 during off-peak periods and $15 during peak periods, defined as Fridays through Sundays between May 15 and Sept. 15.

The 24-hour return toll of $5 will be $3 for peak periods.

The vote also instituted a commuter toll as of Jan. 1 of $5 each way for 30 or more one-way trips within 30 days. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel Commission approved the new schedule 7-2.

The original span and tunnels turn 50 next year.

The commission in May approved speeding up the massive tunnel construction project but did not formally approve the rate hike officials say is needed to pay for it.

And more detail:

TOLLROADSnews: Tolls raised to help finance parallel tunnel tube at Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel

Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (CBBT) directors voted at their latest meeting for an approximate ten percent toll increase to come into effect January 1, 2014. The higher tolls were adopted as part of a plan to finance an $800m dualization of one of their two single-tube (2x1 lane) tunnels. Similar 10% increases in toll rates will be applied every five years in future in order to generate the revenues to support second tubes.

First project is known as the Thimble Shoal Parallel Tunnel. The CBBT Commission thinks the financing climate and low interest rates are favorable to the project. They plan to complete environmental permitting and get an investment grade traffic and revenue report done to support the issue of bonds to finance the project.

Average daily traffic in the summer months is about 13,000 to 14,000/day, about twice the daily rate in winter. Traffic Friday and the weekend is half as big again as daily traffic Mondays thru Thursdays - another indication of the importance of vacation travel in the crossing's traffic.

A study by Jacobs shows that traffic slows and travel times increase markedly when hourly volumes hit 1,100. Traffic backups begin at the lane-drops on the approach to the single lane per direction in the tunnel sections.

[BrianP]

Traffic Friday and the weekend is half as big again as daily traffic Mondays thru Thursdays - another indication of the importance of vacation travel in the crossing's traffic.

Shouldn't that be the weekend traffic is twice the volume as the weekday?

[1995hoo]

Traffic Friday and the weekend is half as big again as daily traffic Mondays thru Thursdays - another indication of the importance of vacation travel in the crossing's traffic.

Shouldn't that be the weekend traffic is twice the volume as the weekday?

"Half as big again" is another way of saying 150 percent. That is, take the number, divide it by two, and then add the result to the original number. 150 is half as big again as 100, for example.

[BrianP]

Ok I've never heard anything phrased that way before.  Seems like a poor choice of words that will just confuse a significant portion of readers.  Even when I know what it means it trips my mind when reading it again.

Even after looking on the internet it's not clear if it's supposed to be half as much again or half again as much.

[cpzilliacus]

TOLLROADSnews: Virginia state lawyers do nice job demolishing "tolls = taxes" argument

Lawyers for Virginia DOT appealing in the state Supreme Court a Circuit Judge's ruling in Portsmouth in Meeks vs VDOT do a strong, well-documented demolition of the tolls=taxes line of argument frequently used against tolling. The case (130955) involves the toll concession already in place for additions and improvements to the Elizabeth River tunnels and highway connections that link Norfolk to Portsmouth and points west.

In the case the plaintiffs (Meeks etc) argued tolls are taxes for three reasons:

First, they are revenue-generating.

Second, they will be imposed on the users of one facility to pay for another separate and independent facility.

Third, the setting of the tolls in this case involves the exercise of true legislative discretion in the consideration and balancing of several factors, not simply the cost of the facility on which the tolls are imposed.

[Stephane Dumas]

Sorry if someone else already posted this info. ^^; VDOT study the possibility to upgrade the I-66/VA-28 interchange, with 2 variants studied.
http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/resources/NorthernVirginia/I-66-Rt_28_CIM_-_Overall_Plan.pdf

[NE2]

I-366, here we come!

[cpzilliacus]

Sorry if someone else already posted this info. ^^; VDOT study the possibility to upgrade the I-66/VA-28 interchange, with 2 variants studied.
http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/resources/NorthernVirginia/I-66-Rt_28_CIM_-_Overall_Plan.pdf

Thank you for posting these.

I had heard about these, but had not seen the plans.  This interchange (as it exists today) is a mess, with at-grade movements on Va. 28 (Sully Road) and at Va. 620 (Braddock Road North). 

Va. 28 is planned to have full access control as far south as the existing U.S. 29 (Lee Highway) interchange in "downtown" Centreville.

[1995hoo]

Some of us have frequently criticized the signs on southbound I-395 in the Springfield Interchange for being poorly-designed, primarily because they are too small and the arrows don't line up with the lanes.

Driving back from Reagan Airport earlier this afternoon I passed through Springfield in the HOV carriageway and I noticed VDOT has replaced at least some of the signs out in the general-purpose lanes with the new-style arrow-per-lane signs. I've only seen a few other signs of this style in Virginia so far, most of them on the Fairfax County Parkway (VA-286) west of its split with the Franconia—Springfield Parkway (VA-289). Because I was in the HOV carriageway, I didn't get the best look at them and I was not able to discern at all whether these signs line up any better than the old ones did. I kind of hope the new APL style is more effective at conveying to drivers that the center lane is an option lane for the exit to Route 644, though. Lots of people don't realize that and seem startled when you use that lane to exit.

Guess I'll see in the next few days whether they'll replace the other signs through there. I hope so. There's a BGS for the Beltway that is missing about a quarter of the lower-right portion of the sign, been that way for almost a year now.

Pictures are dashcam video captures, hence the graininess. I do note, based on this limited view, that it looks as though they may have put too much space between the exit numbers and the letter suffix, just like they did on the signs back at the VA-236 exit. Rather odd, that, since I think whoever fabricated the signs for the rebuilt portion of the Beltway did a very good job.






Edited to add: Before someone notes that pull-thru BGS being misaligned in the final photo, it's because the lanes were shifted into a new alignment within the past week. There are to be three thru lanes there in the future.

[froggie]

First APL sign I'm aware of in Northern Virgina was on westbound Duke St (VA 236) approaching Telegraph Rd (VA 241).  This one was put in even before I moved out of Huntington last year.

Glad they did something about those overheads on 395.  Another place they could stand to improve the overheads is EB DTR to the Beltway...though I have not been there since they wrapped up the HO/T lane construction.

[1995hoo]

First APL sign I'm aware of in Northern Virgina was on westbound Duke St (VA 236) approaching Telegraph Rd (VA 241).  This one was put in even before I moved out of Huntington last year.

Glad they did something about those overheads on 395.  Another place they could stand to improve the overheads is EB DTR to the Beltway...though I have not been there since they wrapped up the HO/T lane construction.

I don't recall whether I saw the one on Duke Street first or the ones on the Parkway first. I go to Old Town often enough, but I usually approach via Telegraph Road and then leave via Holland Lane->Eisenhower Avenue or via Route 1 and the Beltway, so I seldom pass under the sign you mention. I can picture the sign in my mind, I just don't go that way all that often (at my most frequent destination over there, the Whole Foods store on Duke Street, the parking garage exit is designed in such a way that it's more trouble than it's worth for me to go west on Duke Street).

I drove through the eastbound Toll Road on Sunday but wasn't paying much attention to the signs. If I have time in the next few days I'll pull up the dashcam video to see what I can find. They did redo almost all the signing as part of the HO/T construction and it's better than it used to be (among other things, the sign that used a secondary route marker for Route 123 instead of a primary marker has been replaced).

Not sure when I'll use I-395 next; maybe Sunday when Ms1995hoo comes back home and I pick her up at the airport. I'd like to get a better look at those signs in the pictures above. From the video captures, it looks like the left-side arrow is really crammed up tight against the left side of the sign.


Edited: I went ahead and pulled up the dashcam video from Sunday, trimmed it down, and sped it up to double-speed in order to reduce the file size a bit. Click thumbnail to play.



The advance Exit 18B signs (Beltway Inner Loop) aren't ideally positioned (they seem a bit far to the left), but the problem is the toll-rate signs for the HO/T lanes get in the way and restrict what they can do.