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Some Woodrow Wilson Bridge notes

Started by froggie, May 28, 2009, 10:51:42 AM

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1995hoo

#25
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.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.


1995hoo

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.

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.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

1995hoo

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.




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."




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.)




There are several more signs like the first one (notice there's another on the left up past that truck):




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.




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.

"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

cpzilliacus

WTOP Radio: Wilson Bridge project winding down, year before complete

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.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

cpzilliacus

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" 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
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

cpzilliacus

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

Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

1995hoo

#31
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)
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

Takumi

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?
Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
Olive Garden must be stopped.  I must stop them.

Don't @ me. Seriously.

1995hoo

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.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

Beltway

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

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.
http://www.roadstothefuture.com
http://www.capital-beltway.com

Baloney is a reserved word on the Internet
    (Robert Coté, 2002)

1995hoo

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.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

cpzilliacus

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).
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

1995hoo

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!)
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

1995hoo

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.




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.




Third sign is for the LOCAL exits. During construction, the words "LOCAL EXITS" were covered with a patch reading "KEEP RIGHT."




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.




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.




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.




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.




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.




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.




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.





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.



"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

cpzilliacus

Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

cpzilliacus

Washington Post: Final tally: Wilson Bridge project $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.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

cpzilliacus

Washington Business Journal: Alexandria to memorialize Ronald Kirby with plaque near Wilson Bridge

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.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.



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