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[Mapmikey]

It is always chaos when the government throws everyone out early. Took me 2 hrs to reach the American Legion Bridge (9 miles).

The answer from the Montgomery County, Maryland obstructionist cottage industry would have been that you were supposed to be taking public transit. 

Still, Metrorail tends to run better than the roadways during such storms.  At least as long as there isn't 6-8" of snow on the aboveground sections...

Did not hear of any issues with Metro itself.  I also don't know if VRE or MARC adjusted any of their schedules to accommodate the early rush hour.

If I used VRE and Metro it would take longer to commute both directions and because of the VRE schedule I would have to go from a 4-10 schedule to straight 8s, yet be gone from home the same amount of time as the 4-10 schedule, only 5 days a week instead of 4.  This is why I continue to drive (21+ years now). 

[Beltway]

If I used VRE and Metro it would take longer to commute both directions and because of the VRE schedule I would have to go from a 4-10 schedule to straight 8s, yet be gone from home the same amount of time as the 4-10 schedule, only 5 days a week instead of 4.  This is why I continue to drive (21+ years now). 

Using rail transit includes the time between transfer and would be impacted by the connection time between home and VRE and between Metro and the work site.

[1995hoo]

So this morning, I-95’s northbound mainline was closed for six hours between the exits for the Marine base and Triangle due to a big fatal crash. The HO/T lanes remained open. I wonder what the tolls were. Haven’t seen anything and haven’t looked at Transurban’s site to try to estimate. Word is one lane is getting past the wreck site as I type this.

Very icy roads all over the place this morning. The snow was a wet snow combined with rain and it all froze overnight.


Edited to add: After I sat down at my PC at 7:50, I asked it for the toll from the HO/T lanes' southern end to the 14th Street Bridge and it was only $32.50. The bulk of that is not for the southern part, either, as it quoted $6.60 from the southern end to the slip ramp near the Prince William Parkway. There may be less commuter traffic than usual overall today, or a more spread-out morning commute, due to all the school closures and delays.

[Mapmikey]

So this morning, I-95’s northbound mainline was closed for six hours between the exits for the Marine base and Triangle due to a big fatal crash. The HO/T lanes remained open. I wonder what the tolls were. Haven’t seen anything and haven’t looked at Transurban’s site to try to estimate. Word is one lane is getting past the wreck site as I type this.

Very icy roads all over the place this morning. The snow was a wet snow combined with rain and it all froze overnight.


Edited to add: After I sat down at my PC at 7:50, I asked it for the toll from the HO/T lanes' southern end to the 14th Street Bridge and it was only $32.50. The bulk of that is not for the southern part, either, as it quoted $6.60 from the southern end to the slip ramp near the Prince William Parkway. There may be less commuter traffic than usual overall today, or a more spread-out morning commute, due to all the school closures and delays.

The toll for just the Garrisonville to Newington segment at 5:15 was a little over $10.  It was way busier in the toll lanes than normal.

Mainline was backed up about 5 miles waiting to be forced off the interstate at Exit 148 for the fatal wreck.

The variable speed limit portion of the toll lanes was set to 55 throughout, which is the first time I can recall it being lowered solely for weather/road conditions.  The first time it snowed right after they opened a couple years back the road was snow-covered but the speed limits were still 65.

[sprjus4]

^

If the mainline freeway was fully closed, why wouldn't they open up the HO/T lanes to get people through? They've done it before...

Gotta get money somehow I guess.

[1995hoo]

Apparently tonight there is another crash at the same place, but this time debris made its way into the HO/T lanes. That’s about all I know and since the puck is about to drop, I’m not looking up the tolls.

[cpzilliacus]

WTOP Radio: First look at I-395 toll lane use and financial returns finds Transurban made $25M

New financial disclosures are shedding light on the early months of tolling and activity on Interstate 395 in Virginia.

Transurban, the I-395 Express Lanes operator, folded the I-395 data into existing I-95 Express Lanes calculations in its report to investors on the second half of 2019. But the Australia-based company describes the I-395 lanes traffic numbers and revenue as “in line with expectations.”

Overall, toll revenue on the I-95/I-395 corridor was up 13.6% in the second half of 2019 compared to the same period a year earlier.

[1995hoo]

This might belong in a broader-scope thread than this one. I saw a tweet this morning about the new GoToll app available in Virginia. It's apparently intended for people who don't use Virginia's toll roads often enough to justify getting an E-ZPass, though you do have to have a credit or debit card to use it (whereas Virginia has a system to allow cash-payers to use E-ZPass). There is a service charge of 85¢ per trip, similar to how Parkmobile charges a flat service charge per transaction (45¢, last I knew).

I imagine this might be of limited interest unless and until it were to become more broadly available across the country, in which case maybe it would be a solution to the lack of transponder interoperability.

[AlexandriaVA]

Took the day off to get my Virginia REAL ID (pretty painless) and it was a nice day so I went for a little walking tour.

Taken from the S. Abingdon St. bridge over I-395, looking east-northeast. You can see there are still some sound walls that need to be put up (this was part of the Phase II of the I-395 HOT lane conversion).


Taken from the east end of the pedestrian bridge over I-395 at Shirlington. Good shot of a HOT-lane price/information board in a residential area.


Taken from the pedestrian bridge over I-395. When HOT lane conversion work was at its peak, this laydown area was jammed full of vehicles and equipment. Now, next to nothing.


Taken from the pedestrian bridge, looking south/outbound. Good example of the new LED lights for the HOT lanes, whereas the general-purpose lanes still have the orange-hue sodium filament bulbs.


Pedestrian-level view of the new sound walls, from the non-freeway side (S. 31st St.). There used to be trees and shrubberies here acting as the buffer between the local road and the highway.


End of the sound walls on S. 31st Street.

[1995hoo]

Images are not displaying either via the website or in Tapatalk.

[AlexandriaVA]

Gave it another try.

[1995hoo]

They work now. Nice to get a different angle for viewing that highway.

[cpzilliacus]

WRC-TV 4 ("NBC4"): I-395 Express Lanes to Close for 10 Consecutive Weekends

Drivers who use I-395 need to know about a series of weekend closures that could affect your travel plans.

Starting the weekend of March 6-8, Express Lanes will close from near Edsall Road to the D.C. line.

The closures will begin at 11 p.m. Fridays and end at 4 a.m. Monday mornings.

[1995hoo]

WTOP has a report about the unsurprising decline in HO/T lane traffic during the pandemic. The most interesting part, IMO, is the part about I-66 inside the Beltway—it says the typical toll to drive the full length at 8:30 AM is normally around $35 but has been in the $2 range in recent weeks. I haven’t been out on the highway enough to have noticed, although on April 14 I will be using I-395 around midday to get to Arlington Cemetery.

https://wtop.com/dc-transit/2020/04/express-lanes-traffic-falls-in-coronavirus-era-as-gridlock-disappears/

[Mapmikey]

WTOP has a report about the unsurprising decline in HO/T lane traffic during the pandemic. The most interesting part, IMO, is the part about I-66 inside the Beltway—it says the typical toll to drive the full length at 8:30 AM is normally around $35 but has been in the $2 range in recent weeks. I haven’t been out on the highway enough to have noticed, although on April 14 I will be using I-395 around midday to get to Arlington Cemetery.

https://wtop.com/dc-transit/2020/04/express-lanes-traffic-falls-in-coronavirus-era-as-gridlock-disappears/

On the two Mondays I have gone to work the afternoon rush hour (5 p.m.) toll on the beltway outer loop, full length, was under $4.  I-95 tolls combined from the beltway to Garrisonville were under $10 total.  Traffic was so light this most recent Monday that I used no toll lanes at all.

I no longer have to report to work at all so I won't have any more data to share for a while...

[1995hoo]

WTOP has a report about the unsurprising decline in HO/T lane traffic during the pandemic. The most interesting part, IMO, is the part about I-66 inside the Beltway—it says the typical toll to drive the full length at 8:30 AM is normally around $35 but has been in the $2 range in recent weeks. I haven’t been out on the highway enough to have noticed, although on April 14 I will be using I-395 around midday to get to Arlington Cemetery.

https://wtop.com/dc-transit/2020/04/express-lanes-traffic-falls-in-coronavirus-era-as-gridlock-disappears/

On the two Mondays I have gone to work the afternoon rush hour (5 p.m.) toll on the beltway outer loop, full length, was under $4.  I-95 tolls combined from the beltway to Garrisonville were under $10 total.  Traffic was so light this most recent Monday that I used no toll lanes at all.

I no longer have to report to work at all so I won't have any more data to share for a while...

The I-395 lanes likely won't be open when we head to the cemetery, but they'll probably be open when we come back and we will use them without having to pay a toll because we'll have three people in the car. I'm not sure who'll be driving, so I don't know whether I'll get a good chance to notice what the rates would be. Either way, it won't be at a time that would normally be afternoon rush hour, should be earlier than that.

I may head over to my mom's house in Fairfax this weekend to help with a couple of things. I won't be using the HO/T lanes for that trip (the first exit is too far out of the way), but if I take the Beltway I'll keep my eyes peeled to see how the toll compares to weekends in the past. May not take the Beltway, though.

[AlexandriaVA]

On my near-daily mid-afternoon runs/walks over 395 (on the shirlington pedestrian bridge), the HOT lanes are usually 100% unoccupied. I'll try to take some photos in the coming days.

Traffic is so light that there is practically no advantage to using them, unless you particularly want a carriageway to yourself. Also note that slugging is almost certainly suspended indefinitely.

[1995hoo]

On my near-daily mid-afternoon runs/walks over 395 (on the shirlington pedestrian bridge), the HOT lanes are usually 100% unoccupied.

Traffic is so light that there is practically no advantage to using them, unless you particularly want a carriageway to yourself. Also note that slugging is almost certainly suspended indefinitely.

For us there is a mild advantage to having access to the Franconia–Springfield Parkway exit that is accessible only from the HO/T lanes, though with the lighter traffic right now I'd consider entering at Turkeycock instead of near the Pentagon if I were driving solo.

In the case of our next planned trip on that road, since we'll have three people in the car there'll be no real reason not to use them when they're available, given that we have an E-ZPass Flex. The added benefit to us of doing that is that it re-starts the clock on the six-month period for the E-ZPass Flex. That is, the device is free as long as you use it in HOV mode at least once during a six-month period; otherwise, you pay a one-time $10 fee for the transponder. I guess I should look at my E-ZPass statement to see which transponder we used the last time we used HOV mode and and then use the other one this time.

[Beltway]

I'm not able to visit my Dad in his assisted living facility on the MD Eastern Shore, because they are allowing no visitors.

So right there is one less vehicle every two weeks that used the I-95 HOT lanes and the Bay Bridge.

Not just commuters.

[cpzilliacus]

I'm not able to visit my Dad in his assisted living facility on the MD Eastern Shore, because they are allowing no visitors.

So right there is one less vehicle every two weeks that used the I-95 HOT lanes and the Bay Bridge.

Not just commuters.

I have a former (retired) colleague who is in a memory unit at an assisted living place
in Arlington County, Virginia that go to see sometimes, but not now.

That trip allows me to see what's up with the construction on I-66 eastbound between
U.S. 29 (Lee Highway) north of Falls Church and VA-120 (North Glebe Road).

[AlexandriaVA]

I'm not able to visit my Dad in his assisted living facility on the MD Eastern Shore, because they are allowing no visitors.

So right there is one less vehicle every two weeks that used the I-95 HOT lanes and the Bay Bridge.

Not just commuters.

I have a former (retired) colleague who is in a memory unit at an assisted living place
in Arlington County, Virginia that go to see sometimes, but not now.

That trip allows me to see what's up with the construction on I-66 eastbound between
U.S. 29 (Lee Highway) north of Falls Church and VA-120 (North Glebe Road).

Last I drove it was coming along pretty well, might be close to done at this point.

More impressive nearby is the pedestrian bridge for the W&OD trail going over Lee Highway, just south of I-66. The bridge foundation and desk are in place, may be done in the coming weeks.

[sprjus4]

Last I drove it was coming along pretty well, might be close to done at this point.

I drove all of I-66 from Manassas to the Beltway back in February, from my observation I'd say there's at least a year or longer before anything is substantially complete. It's certainly coming along well, the most notable areas where the reconstruction of the interchanges, especially at VA-28.

[oscar]

That trip allows me to see what's up with the construction on I-66 eastbound between
U.S. 29 (Lee Highway) north of Falls Church and VA-120 (North Glebe Road).

Last I drove it was coming along pretty well, might be close to done at this point.

Getting there, but not really close.

Just east of the eastbound on-ramp from Sycamore St., there's an overhead sign assembly indicating the on-ramp (rightmost) lane will continue to, and become, the off-ramp for Glebe Rd./Fairfax Dr., with an "exit only" arrow for the new rightmost lane. However, that new lane is still closed at this point, with traffic entering from Sycamore/Roosevelt forced to merge into the two through lanes.

[Jmiles32]

Last I drove it was coming along pretty well, might be close to done at this point.

I drove all of I-66 from Manassas to the Beltway back in February, from my observation I'd say there's at least a year or longer before anything is substantially complete. It's certainly coming along well, the most notable areas where the reconstruction of the interchanges, especially at VA-28.

Correct regarding the I-66 outside the beltway HOT lanes project the goal I believe is to get rid of the rest of the VA-28 lights from I-66 to Westfields Blvd by the end of this year and thus appears to be the top priority at the moment.

[1995hoo]

Went over to my mom’s house today to help with some things and pick up some items. The toll for the Inner Loop to go the entire length of the HO/T lanes was $2.60 shortly after 1:00 PM. That’s about half what it normally is on a weekend. Road was so empty, I was quite thankful for cruise control just to keep my speed down!