Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[AlexandriaVA]

I should also note that I was hit by a car once in a RTOR on red situation. I was in the crosswalk on a bike, with the permissive pedestrian signal. The driver, at the red, was looking to her left to see for an opening to make her RTOR, but never bothered to look ahead to see for pedestrians with the right-of-way (i.e. myself).

I wasn't hurt, although my bike was a little damaged. It was really eye-opening, because I think she meant well and was a fairly responsible driver. What it taught me is that in busier urban intersections with pedestrians, it's very hard to process all of the information to make a safe RTOR.

My own policy preference is no RTOR during daytime/working hours, such as 7 AM - 7 PM.

[roadman65]

Never understood the RTOR fuel savings argument. By that logic, why shouldn't a motorist be able to perform a LTOR, or a straight-on-red, presuming the coast is clear?

I never did either but this was all part of the same era as the National 55 law or the purge to self serve ( minus NJ and OR).

I think this has to do with safety of pedestrians and cyclists as it’s now harder than ever for autos and bikes to cohabitate than it was forty years ago.  I used to ride in the streets with no worries. Now I use the sidewalks for the unawareness of today’s motorists.

[1995hoo]

....

My own policy preference is no RTOR during daytime/working hours, such as 7 AM - 7 PM.

As I'm sure you know, that's quite common in some parts of Northern Virginia. Alexandria, of course, sometimes prohibits turns on red when pedestrians are present. I don't love that arrangement because it's not always entirely clear what it means for a pedestrian to be "present," and I think it sometimes results in an unnecessary prohibition if a pedestrian is very clearly waiting to cross in a direction that would not come in conflict with the turn on red. (One location that comes to mind is the traffic light outside the Whole Foods on Duke Street. If a pedestrian is clearly waiting to cross Holland Lane to the Whole Foods and there is no other pedestrian present, there's little reason to prohibit someone waiting on Holland at the red light from turning right on red onto Duke Street.)

I can think of some places where restrictions at hours other than 7 AM to 7 PM might be preferable. Sports venues like Nationals Park, where the overwhelming majority of games are night games and where there's relatively low pedestrian volume during most daytime hours during the week, would be an example of a place where some other range of hours might be preferable.

[AlexandriaVA]

Yes, which is why I think the time-based policy is better than the subjective policy.

Fun fact- at the intersection of N Jordan and Taney Ave (Foxchase area), there's a "No Turn on Red When Crossing Guard Present". Not sure if I've ever seen that one before.

[Alps]

I should also note that I was hit by a car once in a RTOR on red situation. I was in the crosswalk on a bike, with the permissive pedestrian signal. The driver, at the red, was looking to her left to see for an opening to make her RTOR, but never bothered to look ahead to see for pedestrians with the right-of-way (i.e. myself).

I wasn't hurt, although my bike was a little damaged. It was really eye-opening, because I think she meant well and was a fairly responsible driver. What it taught me is that in busier urban intersections with pedestrians, it's very hard to process all of the information to make a safe RTOR.

My own policy preference is no RTOR during daytime/working hours, such as 7 AM - 7 PM.

Was this an all-red phase for pedestrians? I would support NTOR during the ped phase and TOR during car phase.
EDIT: Wait, this was probably you crossing directly in front of the car. Driver's fault 200%.

[AlexandriaVA]

Here's the intersection where it happened: https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8400314,-77.1056783,3a,75y,271.85h,83.93t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sCz5yEOtrJJnKjxw3FMQ3jA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Me: Traveling along the sidewalk on the south side of King Street, heading eastbound across 28th Street.
The cycle was in my favor (green for cars, "WALK" for pedestrians).

Her: Turning right from South 28th Street onto westbound King Street.
The cycle was not in her favor (red). Furthermore, she had a "No Right On Red When Pedestrians Present).

[jmacswimmer]

Speaking of I-195, does anyone know anything at all about the status of that change? There have been so many sign replacements in DC over the past couple of years that I would have figured that would have been part of them.

One of the great mysteries of the universe. New I-695 signage went up on I-395 after the renumbering was approved, so who knows when it'll actually happen?

Can confirm as of last night driving to & from Capital One Arena that I-395 & I-695 continue to be signed in their current configurations.

And as a side note for those that regularly drive DC 295: The speed cameras appear to have been shifted around recently. The very-well-known one SB immediately before the I-295/695 interchange has been removed, and a new one SB before Benning Rd has sprouted up in its place.  It also appears the NB one by the Eastern Ave/Quarles St offramp has been removed, leaving one also by Benning Rd.

[1995hoo]

I drove into DC for a concert at the Anthem last night and I can confirm that the I-395/I-695 signs are still as they were and also, somehow, the ancient sign for 12th Street on the ramp from I-395 to the tunnel somehow remains in place despite all the other sign replacements and despite having lost most of its green surface.

I parked at L'Enfant Plaza because it’s around $15 cheaper than parking at the Wharf. Aside from the last part of the walk back (down under the L'Enfant Promenade) being a little creepy at 11:20 at night, it was a good place to park and an easy walk. As a bonus, parking there let me see these two old favorites that remain in place (with the now very rare "District of Columbia" in the shields, too). I’ve always wondered why some old signs use hyphens for the street name. I wonder whether it’s just to provide a visual separator for the single letter. My grandparents lived on a numbered street in Brooklyn and they wrote their address like that with a hyphen to separate the house number from the street name.

[The Ghostbuster]

If someone stole those signs (posibbly a local road geek looking for a souvenir), would they even be replaced? Those signs look like signs-that-time-forgot.

[FLAVORTOWN]

DC's Infrastructure Plans Include Moving I-295 Underground, Redesigning North Capitol Street

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/dcs-major-infrastructure-plans-include-moving-i-295-underground-redesigning-north-capitol-street/3212071/

i think NBC4 meant DC-295, they mix that up constantly

[Ted$8roadFan]

I drove into DC for a concert at the Anthem last night and I can confirm that the I-395/I-695 signs are still as they were and also, somehow, the ancient sign for 12th Street on the ramp from I-395 to the tunnel somehow remains in place despite all the other sign replacements and despite having lost most of its green surface.

I parked at L'Enfant Plaza because it’s around $15 cheaper than parking at the Wharf. Aside from the last part of the walk back (down under the L'Enfant Promenade) being a little creepy at 11:20 at night, it was a good place to park and an easy walk. As a bonus, parking there let me see these two old favorites that remain in place (with the now very rare "District of Columbia" in the shields, too). I’ve always wondered why some old signs use hyphens for the street name. I wonder whether it’s just to provide a visual separator for the single letter. My grandparents lived on a numbered street in Brooklyn and they wrote their address like that with a hyphen to separate the house number from the street name.

I would be tempted…….

[FLAVORTOWN]

Are they ever going to decommission 695? Whats the hold up

[The Ghostbuster]

Maybe the DC Interstate redesignation plan will wait until the signs along Interstate 395 and Interstate 695 need to be replaced. Personally, I think the 395-to-195 and the 695-to 395 proposal should be abandoned. After all, 395 has existed since 95-through-Washington DC was canceled in 1977, and 695 has existed since 1958 (although it wasn’t signposted until 2011).

[elsmere241]

I drove into DC for a concert at the Anthem last night and I can confirm that the I-395/I-695 signs are still as they were and also, somehow, the ancient sign for 12th Street on the ramp from I-395 to the tunnel somehow remains in place despite all the other sign replacements and despite having lost most of its green surface.

I parked at L'Enfant Plaza because it’s around $15 cheaper than parking at the Wharf. Aside from the last part of the walk back (down under the L'Enfant Promenade) being a little creepy at 11:20 at night, it was a good place to park and an easy walk. As a bonus, parking there let me see these two old favorites that remain in place (with the now very rare "District of Columbia" in the shields, too). I’ve always wondered why some old signs use hyphens for the street name. I wonder whether it’s just to provide a visual separator for the single letter. My grandparents lived on a numbered street in Brooklyn and they wrote their address like that with a hyphen to separate the house number from the street name.

I've seen those signs three times: in 1981, 1992, and 2003.  I remember in 1981 we were headed to Arlington and my father turned left there, leading us through a big maze until he stopped and asked for directions.

[1995hoo]

Not sure where else to put this.

https://twitter.com/STATter911/status/1640321576183767040

[froggie]

Well it *IS* still technically the District there...😌

Half my Twitter feed this weekend was filled with the stupidity of those driving to see the cherry blossoms and creating massive gridlock as a result.  A friend of mine had a flight out of DCA and snapped a pic that showed 17th, Independence, and the Kutz Bridge absolutely jammed.

[1995hoo]

Well it *IS* still technically the District there...😌

I just meant I couldn't think of a better place. If we had a thread like "stupid driving" or similar, I'd have put it there.

Half my Twitter feed this weekend was filled with the stupidity of those driving to see the cherry blossoms and creating massive gridlock as a result.  A friend of mine had a flight out of DCA and snapped a pic that showed 17th, Independence, and the Kutz Bridge absolutely jammed.

Heh. I got back from New York just before 8:00 Thursday night (was supposed to be Wednesday night, but all southbound trains were cancelled due to a fairly big trackside brush fire in New Jersey). I-395 from the Third Street Tunnel to the 14th Street Bridge was at an absolute crawl even at 8:15 PM and the radio said the main reason was Tidal Basin traffic. I believe it. Last night we went downtown for the Springsteen concert at Verizon Center and we took I-295 instead—Google Maps and Apple Maps both showed a roughly 20-minute delay inbound over the 14th Street Bridge. I briefly considered using Memorial Bridge to Constitution Avenue but figured, as you note, that 17th might be jammed and that it might result in box-blocking.

Speaking of I-295, for those who use that road, take note that the northbound speed camera near Blue Plains has been relocated to the median at the overpass just before Exit 1—in the current Street View image, you can see it just above the VW SUV in the left lane.

[jakeroot]

Sudden left turn?

[1995hoo]

Sudden left turn?

If you’re wondering why he said that in his tweet, it’s because he’s the same guy who posts the video of people swerving across four lanes of I-395 near Crystal City to get to the left-side Exit 8C for southbound Route 1.

[Alps]

The cherry blossom festival in Newark NJ is much less crowded

[jakeroot]

Sudden left turn?

If you’re wondering why he said that in his tweet, it’s because he’s the same guy who posts the video of people swerving across four lanes of I-395 near Crystal City to get to the left-side Exit 8C for southbound Route 1.

Oh, yes, I get it now. Thank you.