Virginia

[1995hoo]

....

Getting back to "Restricted Lanes," I believe that is how VDOT signs the barrier-separated (and maybe concurrent-flow) HOV lanes along I-64 in Hampton Roads.

I believe that is correct based on pictures I've seen. I haven't been on that portion of I-64 in at least 20 years. Every time I've passed through that area in recent memory I've used I-664 or I've approached the area from the southwest coming up from North Carolina.

One benefit of the HO/T project might be that the signage might become a bit more standardized. I've long thought Virginia's HOV signage tends to be a bit of a mishmash of stuff thrown up at different times over the years without a great deal of consistency. I've noticed how the new signs for the I-66 interchange on the Beltway are a lot clearer than the old ones were, for example (although they omit the "No Trucks" banner for I-66 inside the Beltway). I assume to the extent signs are to be replaced as part of the I-95 HO/T project it will be the contractor hoisting the new ones (after VDOT approves the signs, of course), and since it's the same contractor that suggests there might be some moves towards consistency.

[cpzilliacus]

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Tri-Cities area transportation officials oppose I-95 tolls

The state's proposal for tolls on Interstate 95 is "fatally flawed," Tri-Cities area transportation officials said, going on record opposing the highway toll plan.

Putting tolls on I-95 traffic in Sussex County "would create significant inequality and disproportional cost ... for the low-income, minority population" living in the vicinity of the proposed toll facility, the Tri-Cities Area Metropolitan Planning Organization told the Virginia Department of Transportation on Thursday. Rural Sussex's 10,000-person population is 53 percent African-American. The county is one of the state's poorest localities. According to the 2010 census, Sussex's per-capita income was $16,735, or about half of the state's per-capita income of $32,145.

[cpzilliacus]

Even though someone was killed in their car on Va. 193 (Georgetown Pike) by a massive tree that came crashing down (not in the middle of a storm, either), I am confident  that some of the tree huggers will be howling about this.

WTOP Radio: VDOT to remove hazardous trees in Great Falls

Nearly 60 trees in the Great Falls area of Fairfax County will be removed because they pose a safety risk to motorists.

The trees are located in the Virginia Department of Transportation right-of-way and were flagged for being dead or in decline with multiple defects.

After a driver died on July 17 when a 40-ton decayed oak tree fell on his car on Georgetown Pike, residents spoke up. They alerted the county and VDOT to other trees that might have been unsafe.

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Post: At Fairfax County stables, consequences of BRAC hit home

Cindy Mitchell tried not to panic when she heard that a highway might be built on top of Woodlawn Stables, a business she has poured herself into for 20 years.

She had heard the talk for years. Traffic-clogged Route 1 near Fort Belvoir needed to be widened because the Defense Department had added thousands of jobs to the military base in Fairfax County. This is just more talk, she thought. It won't happen.

[cpzilliacus]

For Virginia commuters, new era begins with HOT lanes

Drivers on Interstate 95 in Northern Virginia will notice a change in the landscape this month. At first, they'll see trees taken down, but the trees aren't all that's about to disappear. Over the next 30 months, a man-made part of the commuting landscape also will vanish.

I-95's High Occupancy Vehicle lanes will be replaced by a system unfamiliar to the D.C. region. Virginia drivers will see these new high-occupancy toll lanes first on the Capital Beltway. Those will open by the end of this year. By the end of 2014, the 14 miles of HOT lanes on the Beltway will link with 29 miles of HOT lanes on I-95.

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Post op-ed:  Steven Pearlstein: And now, in local news . . .

The part that's relevant to the AAROADS audience is near the end of the piece, unfortunately.

As a recent regular (reverse) commuter on Interstate-66, I have developed a newfound appreciation for the inconvenience and economic damage that the transportation nazis in Arlington have imposed on the rest of the region.

For two decades these zealots have successfully blocked any highway construction in the county that might result in even one additional single-occupancy vehicle on the road. Even the investment of billions of dollars in the extension of Metro along the Dulles corridor has not shaken their self-righteous determination to impose their values and force every last one of us to move closer to where we work or abandon our single-occupancy vehicles in favor of buses, carpools and bicycles.

[Stephane Dumas]

I wondered what kind of improvements then VADOT do at Leesburg between VA-9 and Business VA-7?
http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=39.1297924518585&lon=-77.5866079330444&zoom=14

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Post: Beltway HOT lanes tests of E-ZPass system, signs, sensors set for this week

[cpzilliacus]

WTOP Radio: The cost of a speedy Beltway commute means tolls or carpooling

[1995hoo]

Washington Post: Beltway HOT lanes tests of E-ZPass system, signs, sensors set for this week

I stumbled onto a sign test this afternoon on my way back from Falls Church. The pictures I took on I-66 weren't any good, but in this one at least you can make out the wording on the VMS. The toll rates would go where the gibberish characters are. Also, the toll rate for "I-395-95" doesn't refer to a toll for using the Beltway-to-HOV ramps themselves–it refers to using the 495 Express Lanes beyond Braddock, where drivers can move to the right into the regular lanes or continue to the HOV ramps (and, indeed, they may well have to move right if they're not eligible to use HOV on I-95).

If you click on the image it should enlarge a bit, but in case it's unclear, it says "GALLOWS [gibberish]/BRADDOCK [gibberish]/I-395-95 [gibberish]." I couldn't get a closer picture because the sign was switching between this stuff and a "495 EXPRESS LANES TESTING" message.

The renderings I'd seen had suggested they'd use slightly thicker text in caps and lowercase.

[Mapmikey]

The Beltway itself was also running VMS testing this afternoon.

In typical Northern Virginia fashion, traffic was backed up reading the VMS...

Mapmikey

[1995hoo]

Didn't see any of them turned on on the Beltway, but then on the Outer Loop from I-66 to Van Dorn there aren't any that would have been tested anyway. They weren't on when I went the other way earlier.

[Takumi]

Opposition to the proposed toll plaza on I-95 is getting more and more vocal.

http://www.progress-index.com/news/localities-oppose-interstate-95-toll-proposal-1.1359533

[cpzilliacus]

Opposition to the proposed toll plaza on I-95 is getting more and more vocal.

http://www.progress-index.com/news/localities-oppose-interstate-95-toll-proposal-1.1359533

I wonder how many of those local governments stating opposition to the tolling of  I-95 are asking their Virginia state senators and delegates to support an increase in the  Commonwealth's per-gallon motor fuel tax rates?

And  it's amusing to me that the municipality of Dumfries (Prince William County) is on record as opposing I-95 tolling. 

[Beltway]

Opposition to the proposed toll plaza on I-95 is getting more and more vocal.

http://www.progress-index.com/news/localities-oppose-interstate-95-toll-proposal-1.1359533

I wonder how many of those local governments stating opposition to the tolling of  I-95 are asking their Virginia state senators and delegates to support an increase in the  Commonwealth's per-gallon motor fuel tax rates?

And  it's amusing to me that the municipality of Dumfries (Prince William County) is on record as opposing I-95 tolling. 

Toll proposals require the ministry of an exorcist ..

[1995hoo]

Channel 4 has video of the 495 Express Lane test-drives in progress. Doesn't tell us anything we don't already know, of course, but it's interesting to see the lanes finally in use. (As an aside, in my mind it kind of confirms the silliness of trying to line up to be the first person to use a new bridge or a new road or whatever, given that plenty of vehicles will have already driven there. I guess you could say "first member of the general public," but to me that's just not the same.)

I put the link in this thread rather than the HO/T thread because that one strikes me as more focused on the wisdom (or lack thereof) of the I-95 HO/T project and not on construction progress.

[cpzilliacus]

I put the link in this thread rather than the HO/T thread because that one strikes me as more focused on the wisdom (or lack thereof) of the I-95 HO/T project and not on construction progress.

Given that the Virginia General Assembly sees no reason to raise the Commonwealth's motor fuel tax rate at all, the natural result is that Northern Virginia and Hampton  Roads are going to see more and more highway projects that are supported by tolls.

[dfnva]

Battlefield Bypass around Manassas Battlefield...

http://www2.insidenova.com/news/2012/aug/25/battlefield-bypass-nearing-consensus-ar-2152501/

"Clark said the current plan is for the bypass to begin where Va. 234 ends at Interstate 66 and continue across U.S. 29 and on to Pageland Lane at the park's western border. The road would then continue to Catharpin, where it would cross four acres at the park's northwest border. The road would then run into Fairfax County to meet with the Tri-County Parkway....

"The goal of the Battlefield Bypass is to close 234 and 29 as soon as the road is completed."  

[Mdcastle]

Couple of questions for my upcoming trip:
In the Midwest the Super 8 / Days Inn type of motels seem to be a mix, and you can usually pick out the bad ones based on TripAdvisor and avoid them. But except for one in northern Richmond, *All* of these motels in Virginia, Maryland, east-central North Carolina seem to get really negative reviews. Do you need to bump up to a Holiday Inn class to get a decent room in the Mid-Atlantic?

It seems they offer a shuttle service for the  Bay Bridge? Is it really that bad? I've only been on one bridge that really scared me (The Fort Madison toll bridge) so I'm not overly sensative, But I still wonder what I'm getting into.

5 hours a realistic driving time from Richmond to Pocomoke City on a Sunday morning over the Bay Bridge? 7 hours from SwanQuarter NC to Richmond by way of Raleigh?

[dfilpus]

It seems they offer a shuttle service for the  Bay Bridge? Is it really that bad? I've only been on one bridge that really scared me (The Fort Madison toll bridge) so I'm not overly sensative, But I still wonder what I'm getting into.

5 hours a realistic driving time from Richmond to Pocomoke City on a Sunday morning over the Bay Bridge? 7 hours from SwanQuarter NC to Richmond by way of Raleigh?

The Bay Bridge is the US 50/301 bridge across the bay from Annapolis to Chester. I assume you mean the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel.

The CBBT does provide an escort service which provides a driver to drive the customer's vehicle. This service is provided at very limited times and needs to be reserved in advance.

5 Hours is not a bad time for Richmond to Pocomoke City any day outside of rush hour. Sunday morning should be faster.

7 Hours from Swan Quarter to Raleigh to Richmond is about right. It depends on where you're going to in Raleigh and whether you hit rush hour in Raleigh.

[Alps]

Couple of questions for my upcoming trip:
In the Midwest the Super 8 / Days Inn type of motels seem to be a mix, and you can usually pick out the bad ones based on TripAdvisor and avoid them. But except for one in northern Richmond, *All* of these motels in Virginia, Maryland, east-central North Carolina seem to get really negative reviews. Do you need to bump up to a Holiday Inn class to get a decent room in the Mid-Atlantic?

Pretty much. There are a lot of seedy places down that way along the coast (or even to some degree inland from there). Now, western Maryland is just fine, and I imagine the NoVa area is similarly OK. But that's about it. I've found some fairly cheap rates at decent hotels in good areas in the South, but there's no pattern. Sometimes you go to the exit with all the hotels, and sometimes the only good one is the next exit beyond that. Sometimes it's downtown off the Interstate completely.

It seems they offer a shuttle service for the  Bay Bridge? Is it really that bad? I've only been on one bridge that really scared me (The Fort Madison toll bridge) so I'm not overly sensative, But I still wonder what I'm getting into.

The Bay Bridge is indeed long and tall, but unless you have an extreme fear of bridges it's not scary to drive.

[OracleUsr]

The MD Bay bridge, I've been across a dozen times.  I'm acrophobic, but the view of the bay from the high span is really gorgeous.  I remember one night riding back from Annapolis to St. Michaels and noting how beautiful the moonlight looked over the Bay.

[cpzilliacus]

WTOP Radio: Battlefield bypass conversation resurfaces in Va.

After years of discussion, there may be an agreement soon about the Manassas battlefield bypass.

InsideNoVa is reporting the National Park Service and the Virginia Department of Transportation are close to a deal that would build the highway by 2035.

The bypass, which would cost around $305 million, would be built across a western corner of Manassas National Battlefield Park, extending the four-lane Route 234 bypass for nine miles past where it now ends, at I-66 in Prince William County.

The new part of the roadway would extend into Fairfax County and meet with the proposed Tri-County Parkway.

[Mdcastle]

I appreciate the advice. I wish I could drive the bridge eastbound but that's not in the cards, instead I'll be going westbound, from Pocomoke City to northern Richmond. Running the trip clockwise would have meant hitting the bridge in the weekday PM peak hours, and having to get from Ocracoke to Richmond in a single day.

Raleigh's of interest purely from a roadgeeking perspective. I've covered routes from Raleigh west to almost Knoxville, so I plan to just drive to the airport to "link up" with roads I've previously clinched, and then get out of town.

[1995hoo]

I do my share of criticizing VDOT, but I have to say the people at the Virginia Megaprojects division are extremely responsive when you send them comments. I was driving on the Beltway this afternoon when I noticed an erroneous sign on the Outer Loop Exit 54A ramp (westbound Braddock Road). It listed Queensberry Avenue as "Queensberry Rd" and I noted it instantly because I remember riding on that road regularly as long ago as 1982 when I was eight years old and my pee-wee soccer team practiced at a school accessed via that street. Couldn't get a picture because of heavy traffic, but I sent in an e-mail comment to the Megaprojects people and one of them just responded to me, less than an hour after I sent the message.

Got to give credit where it's due.