Since I hadn't posted these before the forum meltdown, and since there were a few updates last week, I thought I'd post this compilation of WWB-related notes and observations over the past few weeks:
- A couple weeks ago (around Monday the 11th, give or take a day), the ramp from SB US 1 to the Outer Loop Thru Lanes opened.
- Around that same time, the configuration of the Outer Loop Local Lanes was changed slightly, to where the 3rd lane going across the bridge begins with the on-ramp from NB US 1. Not sure if this is a temporary or permanent setup...it looks temporary given that the right shoulder at that merge point (NB US 1 ramp onto the Local Lanes) is blocked off for some sort of work (and as of this morning the 28th is still blocked off).
- On Friday the 15th, the right lane on NB US 1, before the ramp to access the Beltway, was reopened. It had been closed for the past 2 months.
- The new ramps from the Outer Loop to Telegraph Rd/Kings Hwy/Huntington Ave are progressing, and VDOT recent announced that the two flyover ramps from the Outer Loop to Kings Hwy and Huntington Ave, as well as the ramp from the Outer Loop to SB Telegraph Rd and the loop from SB Telegraph to Huntington Ave, will all open up this Saturday (the 30th). The ramp to Huntington Ave in particular will make my drives home from Springfield and points west a lot easier. Here's a WTOP story (http://www.wtop.com/?nid=30&sid=1684507) on the upcoming ramp openings.
- On the Inner Loop approaching MD 414, the overhead guide sign for the next 3 Thru Lane exits has had some changes lately...about a week or two ago. First, the Eisenhower Ave listing has been uncovered, even though the ramp to the Eisenhower/Mill Rd intersection hasn't opened yet (should be any day now according to the project website). Second, the route shield for the Van Dorn St listing has been changed. IIRC, it showed VA 401 previously...now it shows SR 613.
- Permanent pavement and striping is in progress in some areas (except for the Thru Lanes themselves, most road surfaces through the project area have been old pavement/temproary pavement/base pavement, and not the permanent top layer). Areas that have had permanent pavement and striping added lately include the loop ramp from the Inner Loop to SB US 1, the Inner Loop just prior to the Thru/Local Lanes split (east of MD 210). Judging from the bridge-approach milling I've seen, permanent pavement for the Inner Loop Local Lanes in Maryland is in progress.
- Probably related to that permanent paving/striping, the large overhead guide sign at the Inner Loop Thru/Local split (between MD 414 and MD 210) was put up over this past weekend. It wasn't there Thursday morning, but was there Monday afternoon. Got a photo of it on my way home yesterday.
- Lastly, as was noted in an earlier MTR thread, the bike/ped path on the north side of the WWB is set to open on June 6. No word yet on when the path connection to US 1 will open (it's being "unofficially used" already).
Right now I'm planning on traveling through here on the morning of June 27 on the way to church camp New York. I'll have to make sure I'm up then ;-)
Took a "quick stroll" on the new ramps at Telegraph/Huntington/Kings Hwy this morning (they opened yesterday). A few observations and comments:
- Permanent pavement for the future Outer Loop Local Lanes, in the vicinity of Exit 176A (the off-ramp to Telegraph/Kings Hwy/Huntington), has been completed.
- The three permanent/semi-permanent guide sign installations built as part of the new ramps (two on the ramp from the outer loop, one "semi-permanent" for the loop from SB Telegraph to Huntington) all use Clearview font.
- The previous Exit 176A has been blocked off, but isn't going to be removed anytime soon. As mentioned elsewhere, it will be serving as a detour route for Exit 176B (Outer Loop to NB Telegraph) later this summer.
- The left turn lane from SB Telegraph to Huntington has also been blocked off. This means that the Telegraph/Huntington traffic signal is now just a simple two-phase signal, which should help with traffic flow.
- While I was waiting at the Telegraph/Kings Hwy light, there were two cars who made a U-turn from SB Telegraph to NB Telegraph in order to turn onto Huntington Ave. Apparently they were either unaware of (or didn't care about) the new loop from SB Telegraph to Huntington.
- It'll probably take a couple weeks of getting used to, but I think this will greatly improve traffic operations at Telegraph/Huntington/Kings Hwy.
Took about 30 photos...will try to get them posted sometime this week.
Also known now as the widest bridge(but not as many travel lanes as the GWB or New Jersey's Driscoll Bridge) http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/4192 (http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/4192)
Quote from: 74/171FAN on June 03, 2009, 07:25:16 AM
Also known now as the widest bridge(but not as many travel lanes as the GWB or New Jersey's Driscoll Bridge) http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/4192 (http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/4192)
Driscoll Bridge is really two separate structures now. But then, so is the Wilson Bridge. I don't know how they count the record though.
Quote from: AlpsROADS on June 03, 2009, 10:16:33 PM
Driscoll Bridge is really two separate structures now. But then, so is the Wilson Bridge. I don't know how they count the record though.
By total structural width (feet/meters). Driscoll has 15 lanes to Wilson's 12. Wilson has a lot more shoulder width to it since it's four roadways with wide right shoulders and wide left shoulders to the outer lanes. Driscoll has three roadways with narrower shoulders.
But what makes Driscoll then soar ahead are the twin US 9 spans directly next to it. Nowhere else in the country can you see that much bridge clumped together in parallel, by lanes or by feet. So it wins.
A few more WWB notes from over the summer:
- On the Maryland side, crews have laid the final pavement layer on the Local Lanes in both directions and on several ramps, converted the ramp from the Outer Loop Local Lanes to NB I-295 to a 2-lane ramp, and removed the temporary haul bridge that sat over the ramp from SB I-295 to the Inner Loop Local Lanes.
- In Virginia, there's now a large overhead sign straddling both sides of US 1 between Fort Hunt Rd and the Beltway. This went up about a week ago.
- Earlier in the summer, the Outer Loop was reconfigured into a 2+1 split at the Eisenhower Connector for bridge work, utilizing the ramps for the rightmost single lane. And quickly became the scene of several traffic backups. Traffic was reconfigured "back to normal" last week, so the Outer Loop ramps to/from Eisenhower are back open.
- A lot of paving has been going on with the future Local Lanes on both sides between Eisenhower and Telegraph.
- Not much new at Telegraph Rd since the new ramps from the Outer Loop that cross over Telegraph Rd opened. Any day now, the ramps from the Inner Loop will be reconfigured to the single exit/C-D road configuration they were in last year.
- A temporary signal has been installed, but turned off, on NB Telegraph at the access ramp to Pershing Ave. This signal will be activated when the current ramp from the Outer Loop to NB Telegraph closes sometime late winter.
Have you posted any of your Inner Loop photos from the stretch that includes the local/thru lanes yet?
N'yet...never got around to it. But it's on the "to do" list...
Quote from: froggie on September 16, 2009, 07:09:49 PM
N'yet...never got around to it. But it's on the "to do" list...
I asked because I was looking at the project website and other areas to see how the current configuration looks, and could find nothing outside of the interchange diagram .pdf's. Your photos of the eastbound direction were helpful in determining the changes.
Inner Loop isn't really all that much different than the Outer Loop in that regard.
I'm on travel to San Diego next week (Navy-related)...if there's interest in seeing the Inner Loop photos, I might bring them along and get them prepped for the website during my off-time.
Quote from: froggie on September 17, 2009, 07:00:18 AM
Inner Loop isn't really all that much different than the Outer Loop in that regard.
I'm on travel to San Diego next week (Navy-related)...if there's interest in seeing the Inner Loop photos, I might bring them along and get them prepped for the website during my off-time.
I worked on updating our Beltway guides yesterday and linked to your site for photos of the current Outer Loop configuration. Since I have no new photos in either direction, I'll do the same for the Inner Loop pages whenever you get them posted.
Oscar Voss alluded in another thread that the speed limit on the Wilson Bridge was being bumped up to 55 MPH. Yesterday on my way home I noticed the variable speed limit sign halfway across the bridge on the Inner Loop was displaying 55 MPH. Nothing corresponding on the Outer Loop, but I usually get on right at US 1 so if there's a speed limit sign showing 55 on the Outer Loop before US 1, I haven't seen it yet.
Word is that VDOT will be doing work this weekend (weather-permitting...given that we're expecting 1-2 inches of snow tomorrow, I doubt it'll happen) that will supposedly extend the local/thru lane split on the Virginia side. Though looking at the project website, it appears that what is happening instead is that Inner Loop traffic will be shifted in stages this weekend between Telegraph Rd and Eisenhower Ave to the futuer local lane roadway. Outer Loop will have the same thing happen next weekend. This is to allow reconstruction of the existing Beltway lanes on both sides (the currently-narrow 6-lane stretch) into the future thru lanes.
On a related note, the long-closed exit from the Inner Loop to the Eisenhower Ave Connector will reopen as part of the lane shift this weekend.
Google Earth has recently added imagery dated 8/29/10 which shows, amongst other things:
- The final configuration of the overall project from the Mill Rd ramps (just west of US 1) to the east end of the project east of MD 210.
- The ramps from the Outer Loop to go to both Kings Hwy and Huntington Ave (opened last year)
- The new ramp from NB Telegraph Rd to Eisenhower Ave (opened over the summer)
- The even newer ramps from the Outer Loop to both NB Telegraph and Eisenhower Ave (opened last week)
With that last opening, the old ramp from the Outer Loop to Telgraph/Huntington can be torn down and the future ramp from SB Telegraph to Kings Hwy can be built.
Some notes from over the past few weeks:
- Traffic on both sides of the Beltway has been fully shifted to the future Local Lanes in each direction between the Eisenhower Ave connector and the completed Local/Thru Lanes east of Telegraph Rd. There's no longer that weird curving that was complained about in another thread previously. This also, thankfully, eliminates the serious pavement problems that have been existing with the old Inner Loop bridge over Cameron Run (just west of Telegraph Rd).
- However, the above switch has required narrowing the Inner Loop Local Lanes to 1 through lane before it merges with the Thru Lanes. This has created a bit of a backup situation that usually backs up traffic to Route 1.
- The loop ramp from northbound Telegraph Rd to the Inner Loop has been closed for about a week, while crews put the finishing touches on the new loop bridge over Telegraph Rd. The new loop is being bridged over the loop ramp from the Inner Loop to southbound Telegraph in order to eliminate weaving. According to the project website (and weather permitting of course), the loop ramp should reopen by the end of the year...it'll tie into the new ramp from southbound Telegraph to the Inner Loop that's been open for some time now.
- With the reconfiguration on the Outer Loop, some of the permanent overhead signage is now in place. Also, the ramp from the Outer Loop to northbound Telegraph and Eisenhower is now a 2-lane ramp. Haven't been on the ramp yet, but presumably the lanes split, with 1 lane each going to northbound Telegraph and to Eisenhower.
- Work has begun on widening the Telegraph Rd bridge over Cameron Run (just north of Huntington Ave). The widened bridge will carry additional lanes on Telegraph Rd as well as a bike/ped path on the east side of the bridge that will connect over the Beltway to Eisenhower Ave.
- Work has also begun on widening the Telegraph Rd bridge over the railroads north of Eisenhower. This will require some long-term lane closures that will have a notable impact on Telegraph Rd traffic until 2012.
Noticed today that the loop ramp from NB Telegraph Rd to the Inner Loop is now open. This ramp is bridged over both Telegraph Rd and the loop ramp from the Inner Loop to SB Telegraph, to eliminate weaving.
Whoever designed the new bridge, kudos to them! :cheers:
Not to say that the 1961 original was bad, but considering the overwhelming traffic volumes that increased in the years since the original plans for I-95 through DC were cancelled, it really needed to go. I'll bet no one out there misses it.
Quote from: Henry on January 28, 2011, 03:15:56 PM
Whoever designed the new bridge, kudos to them! :cheers:
Not to say that the 1961 original was bad, but considering the overwhelming traffic volumes that increased in the years since the original plans for I-95 through DC were cancelled, it really needed to go. I'll bet no one out there misses it.
I live about two or three miles south of the Van Dorn Street exit. The new bridge has worked wonders in terms of opening up the Beltway. For a while the daily afternoon backup on the Outer Loop had largely disappeared, but it's been present again for the past several months due to the ongoing widening. Once the quad-carriageway is completed, I'm optimistic that things will improve IF–and this is a big "if"–they get the signage right. I understand that the FHWA now favors the "Local"/"Thru" terminology being used on that road, but the downside of that terminology is that it creates potential confusion if a sign is posted reading "All Lanes Thru," similar to the ones used in New Jersey when you approach a toll plaza. The problem I see all too often on the Beltway is that non-local drivers do not realize that the "Local" carriageways in fact go to exactly the same place as the "Thru" carriageways, leading to some mad-dash cross-gore lane changes at the last second. If the sign said "All Lanes Thru" it might eliminate some of that, but then the problem is that it makes no sense to designate only one carriageway as "Thru" but to say "All Lanes Thru." I think a reasonable compromise would be to list Baltimore as a control city on both carriageways on the Outer Loop and Richmond as a control city on both carriageways on the Inner Loop–in other words, right now on the Outer Loop the sign has I-95 North/I-495 East THRU to Baltimore and LOCAL to Alexandria. I'd add a "Baltimore" underneath the "Alexandria" as a way of indicating to drivers unfamiliar with the area that you can still reach your longer-distance destinations regardless of which lane you choose.
By far the single biggest improvement the new Wilson Bridge brings, though, regardless of quad-carriageways or rebuilt interchanges or the like, is adequate shoulders. The old bridge had insufficient space to move wrecks or breakdowns out of traffic and the result was predictable. The new bridge(s) correct(s) that problem.
I'm not so sure on that. The only way this is going to work long-term is to encourage as many of the longer-distance drivers to use the Thru lanes as possible....this being because of the HEAVY volumes of traffic that enter and/or exit the Local lanes at both Route 1 and I-295. You're not going to get that by signing "Baltimore" (or, conversely, "Richmond") as a control city for the Local lanes.
New Jersey uses the Local-Express designation for the quad carriageways along I-78, I-80 and the Garden State Parkway. Would this terminology work here any better than using "Thru" for the fast lanes?
Perhaps if they had gone with that from the get-go. But it's too late now..."Thru Lanes" has already ingrained itself into the local nomenclature.
Quote from: froggie on April 28, 2011, 10:31:51 PM
I'm not so sure on that. The only way this is going to work long-term is to encourage as many of the longer-distance drivers to use the Thru lanes as possible....this being because of the HEAVY volumes of traffic that enter and/or exit the Local lanes at both Route 1 and I-295. You're not going to get that by signing "Baltimore" (or, conversely, "Richmond") as a control city for the Local lanes.
Oh, believe me, I understand the intent behind signing it that way and I agree with it. What I would really like to see, though the money obviously doesn't exist and it would disrupt this part of the county big-time, would be to have the quad-carriageway extended all the way west to the Springfield Interchange (though I have trouble visualizing how to configure the lanes at the western end of that setup). That is, just separate the long-distance traffic all the way across. But what I was trying to suggest is not necessarily that they should encourage long-distance traffic to use the "Local" carriageway, but rather that there ought to be some way to configure the signage to indicate to people unfamiliar with the road that you need not panic to get into the "Thru" carriageway at the last minute because the other lanes will take you to the same place. Some of the panicky maneuvers I've seen through there are quite dangerous.
In other words, I suggested the control city idea simply as a compromise because I couldn't come up with a better way of communicating this information. The "Local"/"Express" designation would have been more effective precisely because you can use the "All Lanes Thru" signage seen in New Jersey and on I-270 in Maryland. But apparently, according to Mike Tantillo on misc.transport.road, the FHWA now wants the term "Express" to be reserved for HOV/HOT/Express Toll facilities, i.e., what the MUTCD calls "Managed Lanes," rather than for a separate carriageway that simply has fewer exits. (It seems to me that "fewer exits" is precisely what "express" connotes, like when you ride the express train on the New York subway.) That's evidently a major reason for the terminology being used on the Beltway. I suppose in Virginia the only road generally referred to as "express" is the express lanes on Shirley Highway, although many people new to the area call them the "HOV lanes" instead.
I haven't taken a look yet, but the new ramp from southbound Telegraph Rd to Kings Hwy is now open, and as with when the Huntington Ave ramp opened awhile back, mass confusion reigns. Confusion stems from two parts: first, the former movement was a left turn, and now this is a ramp on the right. Second, the ramp for Kings Hwy comes first, even though drivers physically encounter Huntington Ave first.
I'll give it a couple weeks to see how traffic sorts out.
I was going to check out the new ramp yesterday on my way back from a morning hearing in Greenbelt, but it was raining quite hard such that I just wanted to get out of the bad weather. WTOP reported that a lot of people have been baffled and I'd like to see what they've done as to signs. When the Huntington Avenue ramp opened sometime ago, VDOT put all the signs for it on the right, reasoning that for a right-hand exit the sign goes on the right (overhead signs not being an option in that heavy work zone). Normally I'd say they have a point, but in this case people have been making those two left turns for well over 30 years and so are somewhat on autopilot. A driver who's been going left for 30 years perhaps understandably isn't necessarily looking for a sign on the right, so a temporary sign on the left is in order until drivers get used to it.
VDOT did put up some additional signs for Huntington Avenue back then after Mike Tantillo of misc.transport.road and I raised the issue via Dr. Gridlock. I'll be interested in seeing if they learned from that go-round. If I go down to Old Town today or tomorrow I'll check it out....I'm waiting for the workmen to come do a roof repair and so my whole schedule is in limbo.
(I suppose it's probably fair to assume that the temporary signs already in place will be even more temporary if they just stuck on revised info...of course, when they're probably going to replace all the crappy-looking signs when this is all done, I have to concede that it's reasonable to try to stick with temporary signs for as long as possible.)
(edited to fix typos)
I went down and made three runs around the new ramp this afternoon, all from southbound Telegraph onto Kings Highway. Several portable VMS units were up to advise people of the change and the green signs had been modified to advise of the new ramp. Lots of barrels in the road to prevent people from making the old left, and they repaved the road to wipe out the old left-turn lane markings (a good idea, I think; too bad they can't repave all the bumpy pavement throughout the area, but of course I know there is a heck of a lot of work left). There's a portable VMS for people who miss the exit saying "U-Turns use second signal," but I saw quite a few people ignoring that and making U-turns or else turning left, going through the car park for the Bestway Latin American supermarket, and then entering Kings Highway from there. I guess it makes sense that the same people who can't read the "Kings Highway KEEP RIGHT" and "Kings Highway NEXT RIGHT" signs wouldn't be able to understand what the "No U-Turn" sign means!
I have some sun-visor-view videos from my iPhone but I may not be able to upload them due to file size. If I succeed in uploading the smallest one I'll edit this to link it. Not exactly the most exciting video, of course....
Edited to add: Uploading any of the videos proved impractical. I don't have software to edit QuickTime videos, which is what an iPhone uses as the recording format. I suppose I ought to get something along those lines if I want to use the phone for videos.
The Washington Post's Dr. Gridlock has a blog entry up that mentions some new signs coming to the Outer Loop of the Beltway on the approach to the quad-carriageway area. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dr-gridlock/post/drivers-will-get-some-help-on-which-fork-to-take/2011/06/06/AGBmlMKH_blog.html)
The following is an excerpt; the full article, which also mentions the 14th Street Bridge work zone, can be accessed by clicking the above sentence. I'll be interested in seeing what the new signs will be.
QuoteThe Wilson Bridge project, which is rebuilding the Telegraph Road interchange and widening the Beltway nearby, will be placing new signs before the LOCAL/THRU split on the outer loop to simplify the message motorists see as they head toward the Wilson Bridge.
The signs will tell drivers that all lanes go through to destinations beyond the construction zone after the lane split, according to an announcement from the project. The signs also will alert motorists who want the local exits that they should stay right.
This area of the Beltway is in flux, because of the construction project, and the signs are temporary, but if they work as the planners intend, they should eliminate at least some of that last-moment lane changing at the split and thereby improve traffic flow.
The new sequence of signs will first appear just after the outer loop's Van Dorn interchange and then at regular intervals up to the split, just east of Telegraph Road.
Signs notifying travelers that all lanes go through to destinations beyond the construction area will be in black letters and symbols on yellow and orange backgrounds, the project staff said. Messaging to keep right to take local exits will be in white letters on black backgrounds.
Placement of the signs is scheduled to begin Friday night and be completed by next Monday. There will be brief, single-lane closings during off-peak hours while the signs are positioned.
Following on my post above about the new signs coming to the Outer Loop, today en route to Arlington I took the Outer Loop from Van Dorn Street to US-1 to see what the new signs were. The pictures below are screenshots from a video filmed with my iPhone, which was clipped to the passenger-side sun visor. Can't upload the video because it's too big, but I think most of you would find it a bit unwatchable because the camera shakes so much. I was driving my RX-7 with the top down and it's fairly tightly sprung anyway, but having the camera on the sun visor just further amplifies every bump and vibration. (Funny thing, the video isn't overly noisy even with the top down.) So here are some stills instead; the dashboard glare is visible in some of them, but that's life; I think the pictures are clear enough to show what I wanted, even if the quality isn't great.
This is the first advance warning sign for the "Local"/"Thru" split. What's interesting to me is that they covered up the big sign on the left, which is a diagrammatic sign showing how the road splits into two carriageways and noting that the inner ("Thru") carriageway goes to Baltimore and the outer ("Local") one serves Alexandria. I assume it will be uncovered when the construction is all finished. I rather like the sign on the right, though. Technically it's incorrect–you can exit from the "Thru" carriageway to MD-210 after you cross the Wilson Bridge–but the intent behind the sign is noble.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi31.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc378%2F1995hoo%2FRoad%2520sign%2520pictures%2F879f6f34.jpg&hash=a4df0aac892055fb733523edc74e94309abe47be)
The wording on the next sign has been tweaked. Notice at the top it now says "Keep Right" instead of "Local Exits." I'm not sure that makes sense. All the exits are on the right anyway, and the current split is quite some distance ahead. When the construction is done, I think the top of this ought to say either "Local Exits" or "Exits from Local Lanes Only."
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi31.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc378%2F1995hoo%2FRoad%2520sign%2520pictures%2F1725f65c.jpg&hash=8f2fe4a6d68b79d68bf37f9af19c942ed1e683fc)
I wonder if the following temporary orange signs are a reason for covering up the "Local"/"Thru" signs. As I've suggested before, it's arguably ambiguous to designate one carriageway as "Thru" and to say "All Lanes Thru" at the same time. ("Express" might be a better term, but it seems the FHWA now discourages that word in this particular application.)
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi31.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc378%2F1995hoo%2FRoad%2520sign%2520pictures%2F891971fe.png&hash=64037ff7f12ce2d27d6cd4b6f7631b176587dc31)
There are several more signs like the first one (notice there's another on the left up past that truck):
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi31.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc378%2F1995hoo%2FRoad%2520sign%2520pictures%2Fe13ecdfe.jpg&hash=55706b95bc8a3f81ee645b15de109fd05853a922)
One could argue that this sign is wrong in its current location because at this particular point the right lane is Exit Only for Telegraph Road and Eisenhower Avenue.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi31.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc378%2F1995hoo%2FRoad%2520sign%2520pictures%2F591036b9.jpg&hash=50f383e61bc6968c606ca3094da736e892ab885e)
Finally, I notice they've put out a lot more barrels and pylons and such at the actual split to try to discourage last-second cross-gore maneuvers. The three lanes approaching the split presently divide to have only the left lane go "Thru"; the other two become "Local." I don't know whether this is causing any problems. Traffic was fairly light when I went through there at around 10:30 this morning.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi31.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc378%2F1995hoo%2FRoad%2520sign%2520pictures%2F19ca9bbe.jpg&hash=c10aa431dac3f80bcb7dc0e21cf83f419a37eda0)
WTOP Radio: Wilson Bridge project winding down, year before complete (http://www.wtop.com/?nid=120&sid=2829305)
QuoteDrivers have had to deal with more than a decade of construction-related delays because of the Wilson Bridge Project, and it will be at least another year before everything is finished.
QuoteWhile the newly constructed bridge has been in place for some time, work around the bridge continues.
QuoteAnd as the curtain comes down on one of the largest transportation undertakings in the D.C. region, project leaders are pointing toward the end.
AVOID the Woodrow Wilson Bridge approach from Virginia (passing the Va. 241 (Telegraph Road) interchange [Exit 176]) this weekend if possible. A (slightly) watered-down version of Southern California's "Carmageddon Weekend" (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/carmageddon/) is pending for the Capital Beltway's Outer Loop (headed from Va. to Md.).
WTOP Radio: Another stay-away weekend on I-495 near Alexandria (http://www.wtop.com/654/2500192/Avoid-the-Outer-Loop-in-Alexandria-this-weekend)
I think there's an error in this report - the Capital Beltway will not be five lanes (each way) all the way from Springfield to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. I think there will still be a four lane segment (8 lanes total) between Exit 173, Va. 613 (S. Van Dorn Street) and Exit 174 (Eisenhower Avenue Connector).
WTOP Radio: Long-awaited milestone on Beltway bridge (http://www.wtop.com/120/2977920/Milestone-Woodrow-Wilson-bridge)
I think it depends on whether you count "Exit Only" and accel/decel lanes as "lanes" for that purpose. For example, the Outer Loop onramp from Van Dorn becomes "Exit Only" at the Eisenhower Connector.
Used the Inner Loop, both LOCAL and THRU lanes, coming back from Nationals Park today (both? Yes because we went to the ATM in Old Town, so we took LOCAL from I-295 to Exit 177C, went to the bank, then took THRU when we got back on). Couldn't get Outer Loop photos, but looking in the mirrors I could see they took down a lot of the signage that was up for the past year or so. The notable deletion in my mind was the removal of the "NO EXIT IN VIRGINIA" banner for the THRU lanes. I thought that addition was a good idea.
It's looking like a busy week, but maybe I can get some pictures Thursday or Friday.
(edited on Monday morning to fix an autocorrect-caused typo)
Quote from: 1995hoo on August 05, 2012, 08:39:00 PM
The notable deletion in my mind was the removal of the "NO EXIT IN VIRGINIA" banner for the THRU lanes. I thought that addition was a good idea.
As did I. The removal must have been this past week, because the banner was there last weekend. Of course, the Outer Loop had construction going on at the exit for Telegraph when I went by there, so I guess it's possible.
I saw a few covered up big signs on the Outer Loop that day as well. Did you happen to see if they were still covered?
The banner was there on Friday afternoon when I went to Old Town.
I didn't see any covered signs in my mirrors, but I'd have to drive the Outer Loop to confirm for sure what they uncovered. I believe I saw a "THRU EXITS" sign that was previously covered, but I just didn't get a great look for obvious reasons.
Quote from: cpzilliacus on August 04, 2012, 08:04:17 PM
I think there's an error in this report - the Capital Beltway will not be five lanes (each way) all the way from Springfield to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. I think there will still be a four lane segment (8 lanes total) between Exit 173, Va. 613 (S. Van Dorn Street) and Exit 174 (Eisenhower Avenue Connector).
WTOP Radio: Long-awaited milestone on Beltway bridge (http://www.wtop.com/120/2977920/Milestone-Woodrow-Wilson-bridge)
The 2-mile segment of the Beltway between Van Dorn Street and Eisenhower Avenue Connector, still has 4 lanes each way.
It is being studied for possible widening by adding one managed lane each way. That would connect the managed lanes on the HOT Lanes Project to the unopened managed lanes on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project.
Well, this morning when I drove my wife to the Van Dorn Street Metro stop and we passed under the Beltway the traffic on the Outer Loop was flowing like it was the week between Christmas and New Year's. I've never seen it flowing so freely, especially not recently (understandable when only one LOCAL lane was open). From my point of view the knock-on effect is that Van Dorn flows better as well because fewer people bail off the Beltway there. For the past month we've been going to the Springfield stop more often even though it means she has a longer ride, simply because it took so much less time to get over there due to Van Dorn backups that the shorter drive time made up for the longer subway ride.
Hopefully the improved traffic flow will be a long-term thing, not a temporary lull due to lower August traffic volumes.
Quote from: 1995hoo on August 06, 2012, 09:19:03 AM
Hopefully the improved traffic flow will be a long-term thing, not a temporary lull due to lower August traffic volumes.
I think it's going to help - at least for a while.
But - as I think I suggested someplace on this site before before, the permanent elimination of the Wilson Bridge bottleneck for I-95 southbound traffic has removed a "ramp meter" for through traffic, and moved the "meter" south to the "express lane merge" (currently just south of Va. 234 in Dumfries, Prince William County).
Quote from: cpzilliacus on August 07, 2012, 01:59:26 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on August 06, 2012, 09:19:03 AM
Hopefully the improved traffic flow will be a long-term thing, not a temporary lull due to lower August traffic volumes.
I think it's going to help - at least for a while.
But - as I think I suggested someplace on this site before before, the permanent elimination of the Wilson Bridge bottleneck for I-95 southbound traffic has removed a "ramp meter" for through traffic, and moved the "meter" south to the "express lane merge" (currently just south of Va. 234 in Dumfries, Prince William County).
Yeah. I was referring more to the northbound traffic because that's what cleared up this weekend with the new lanes opening. Beltway looked pretty good again this morning and Van Dorn was nice and wide-open. But as I say, the real test will come in September.
More of a Fictional Highways thought here....but really what I'd like to see would be an extension of the LOCAL/THRU arrangement west to the Springfield Interchange coupled with a rebuild of the Van Dorn interchange, which is one of the worst-designed on the entire Beltway. But the money isn't there and it would raise its own set of complications, the most significant being how to set up the western end of the quad-carriageway while still allowing full access between the I-95 flyover ramps, the new Beltway-to-HOV ramps, and both sets of carriageways on the Beltway. (Plus I think we're all absolutely SICK OF BELTWAY CONSTRUCTION IN VIRGINIA!)
Had to go to Old Town earlier today, so I took the Beltway via the local lanes to the Telegraph Road exit and I stuck my phone on the passenger-side sun visor with the video running. Here are some screen captures showing the road signs and some other elements since the final configuration opened last weekend.
This was the first chance I've had to drive on the Outer Loop through there this week–I used the Inner Loop, but it's hard to get a good look at things using your mirrors. To me the biggest omission is the lack of a "NO EXIT IN VIRGINIA" banner anywhere for the THRU lanes. Something like that could go in yellow underneath the word "Baltimore" on the diagrammatic signs. I suppose the theory is that the "THRU EXITS" signs list only Maryland state routes, thereby telling the motorist that all the exits from the THRU lanes are in Maryland. The flaw in that thinking is that it relies on the motorist knowing that the square symbol is a Maryland shield, which may not be a fair assumption given all the out-of-area drivers who use that road. BUT I suppose it's something they can always modify later if needed.
This is the first sign east of Van Dorn Street. It was covered up for a couple of years.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi31.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc378%2F1995hoo%2FRoad%2520sign%2520pictures%2Fd32f3e96.png&hash=ebb8cb4758c9e0fce20104498e2b6b6fc80141fb)
Second sign east of Van Dorn. I noted how it's mounted on the left side, consistent with where the THRU lanes are after the split. Note also the extra striping in the center line.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi31.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc378%2F1995hoo%2FRoad%2520sign%2520pictures%2F72e61cd3.png&hash=4caea2f62aa55bd175e5c39b6776baa24c5636db)
Third sign is for the LOCAL exits. During construction, the words "LOCAL EXITS" were covered with a patch reading "KEEP RIGHT."
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi31.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc378%2F1995hoo%2FRoad%2520sign%2520pictures%2Fa083951a.png&hash=116ea048c8928aa258a8ddd97ea25c57258dcd53)
The right lane is no longer exit-only to the Eisenhower Connector. That's a positive. Lots of drivers felt "Exit Only" didn't apply to them and drove down that lane only to try to force their way left at full speed at the last minute. Incidentally, as I post these pictures I'm realizing there are now NO advance signs for the Eisenhower Connector exit. Perhaps they'll add one in one of the empty spaces on the other gantries shown in the pictures above. Even though it's one of the more lightly-used exits there still ought to be an advance sign.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi31.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc378%2F1995hoo%2FRoad%2520sign%2520pictures%2F08313376.png&hash=5f619145e1eacb5ffe3ed2e76d4207e5ab1a5329)
Approaching the overpass above the Eisenhower Connector one sees the second diagrammatic sign. The center line is solid at this point, but it returns to broken (using the small square dots you see on many exit lanes) after the overpass. The road could use a resurfacing to get rid of all the ruts where the striping used to be during construction.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi31.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc378%2F1995hoo%2FRoad%2520sign%2520pictures%2Fc5f0903c.png&hash=2b73a013c9c3afefa55509d5e314eb1c8aba89e1)
After the Eisenhower Connector another THRU exits sign then appears, once again pushed to the left side. You can see the small-square line I mentioned earlier.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi31.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc378%2F1995hoo%2FRoad%2520sign%2520pictures%2F1ec67cdb.png&hash=b8d393a34cfb521cd55b658463d71ddc51d9c437)
This next picture is a bit naff because my phone's belt clip fell off the sun visor and I had to bend over and pick it up off the floor (good thing there wasn't much traffic). The "LOCAL EXITS" sign is pushed to the right, similar to the way the "THRU EXITS" sign is pushed to the left. It's a step that's probably too subtle for the average non-roadgeek to detect. That truck that's in the third lane from the right is going to cut across the gore area between LOCAL and THRU a few minutes later.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi31.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc378%2F1995hoo%2FRoad%2520sign%2520pictures%2F6e15e855.png&hash=0d77ddb43b3b69ce5179f3d9d2fa56dbb2c444f3)
Reaching the actual split you encounter these signs. I don't know what those black things over the signs are for (I think they look like VMS units but I don't know what they plan to put on them). That truck driver has his left blinker on; evidently all the signs leading up to this point were unclear.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi31.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc378%2F1995hoo%2FRoad%2520sign%2520pictures%2F8c337d13.png&hash=1934a0075c8fb27eb0b111977b8b42d680abe9f5)
Entering the LOCAL lanes. The "Exit Only" banner there isn't quite centered over the right lane, but the presence of the other sign to the right makes it impractical to do that. It's still positioned a lot better than the overhead signs on I-395 approaching the Springfield Interchange.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi31.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc378%2F1995hoo%2FRoad%2520sign%2520pictures%2F238788f8.png&hash=bd955c21e97331dbbdf3ae8d304c60d94c1804fd)
Last picture from the eastbound trip. The lane I'm in was the right lane before and now becomes "Exit Only." If you stay in this lane up the ramp it takes you to the light at Eisenhower Avenue and Stovall Street outside the Holiday Inn. The LOCAL carriageway continues as two lanes.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi31.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc378%2F1995hoo%2FRoad%2520sign%2520pictures%2F8d7b288a.png&hash=cbf22abf14e566149ff9cd5968611032c6005912)
On my way back from Old Town I used the Inner Loop THRU lanes and took the opportunity to get pictures of the signs located just after the carriageways merge back together. I don't like this style of diagonal arrow because the sharper the angle, the harder it is to tell at a glance which lane it means. In the first picture the sign is referring to the lane to the right of the dump truck, i.e. the rightmost lane that is not a deceleration lane for the offramp.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi31.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc378%2F1995hoo%2FRoad%2520sign%2520pictures%2F5a6a1897.png&hash=b73b3ea922287ee37babf907c308abcaa7efd7a5)
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi31.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc378%2F1995hoo%2FRoad%2520sign%2520pictures%2F0a33ceff.png&hash=7a6fd9e955fca7d9a9b12c4b9ca989c86d67cee1)
WTOP Radio: Wilson Bridge trouble stops Sunday morning traffic (http://www.wtop.com/41/3395637/Wilson-Bridge-trouble-stops-Sunday-morning-traffic)
Washington Post: Final tally: Wilson Bridge project $86 million under budget (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dr-gridlock/wp/2015/03/31/final-wilson-bridge-reconstruction-comes-in-86-million-under-budget/)
QuoteStories about big highway and transit projects often focus on "cost creep," the tendency for a new road or subway line to end up costing far more to build than the taxpaying public and the political officials who approved the deals were initially promised.
QuoteSo when an enormous bridge reconstruction project comes in $86 million under budget, it gets its own headline.
QuoteThe final cost of rebuilding the Woodrow Wilson Bridge – a series of construction sites that Washington-area motorists navigated for 13 years – came in at $86 million less than a 2001 budget estimate.
QuoteBy the time all construction contracts were paid out and all rights-of-way had changed ownership, the massive bridge project cost $2.357 billion, according to figures from the project's "financial close" in February. That compared to a 2001 cost estimate of $2.443 billion, said Jim Ruddell, a vice president of Parsons Brinckerhoff and Wilson Bridge project manager for eight of the 13 construction years.
Washington Business Journal: Alexandria to memorialize Ronald Kirby with plaque near Wilson Bridge (http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/breaking_ground/2016/04/alexandria-to-memorialize-ronald-kirby-with-plaque.html)
QuotePending the council's expected OK on Saturday, the plaque honoring Kirby (a native of Adelaide, Australia) will be installed on the Washington Street urban deck by the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. Kirby, as COG's planning chief, played a key role in the bridge's transformation from six-lane commuter nightmare to a 12-lane, dual span with room for local and through traffic, transit and pedestrian and bicycle users.
QuoteThe plaque would read:
QuoteA consummate public servant, role model, and leader whose tireless work for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, including planning for the new multimodal Woodrow Wilson Bridge and the promotion of walkable, bikeable communities, is exemplified in this public space. This memorial placed in gratitude by the citizens of the City of Alexandria and all who loved him.