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[cpzilliacus]

Richmond Times-Dispatch: McAuliffe wants to scrap E-ZPass maintenance fee

Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s administration wants to eliminate a monthly maintenance fee on E-ZPass transponders and move administration of the program to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Secretary of Transportation Aubrey L. Layne Jr. told a Senate subcommittee on Wednesday that the administration “takes a little different view”  of the fee than did the administration of Gov. Bob McDonnell, which imposed it in mid-2012.

Layne said he is working with Sen. John C. Miller, D-Newport News, on legislation that would give the Virginia Department of Transportation until Sept. 1 to devise and carry out a plan to eliminate the fee – currently 50 cents a month for a standard transponder and $1 a month for a deluxe “flex”  model.

[JawnwoodS96]

I would like to see the fee removed. Since one already pays for it upfront, it just seems more like a cash grab to charge someone monthly.

Hopefully it is removed and I hope the same for other states *cough*Pennsylvania*cough*.

[maplestar]

I would like to see the fee removed. Since one already pays for it upfront, it just seems more like a cash grab to charge someone monthly.

All one pays upfront (at least in Virginia) is tolls. There is a $35 up-front charge, I believe, which is all converted to your balance, so only goes to paying tolls.

[cpzilliacus]

Richmond.com: Why Richmond, Why?!? I-295/Route 288 Isn't a Beltway

Why isn't 288 and 295 connected to make the 295 beltway around Richmond? - D.W.

This reader is asking about Route 288 and Interstate 295. I researched several sources, but the Richmond Times-Dispatch archives had the best coverage of the developments of the "beltway," including this breakdown of the vision for a beltway around Richmond:

"Original plans showed I-295 serving as a true beltway around the city, connecting with Route 10 south of the city and I-64 to the north. But environmental and historical preservation issues, among other concerns, derailed plans for a one-shot north-to-east beltway. The beltway...will be a long, sweeping arc of I-295 northbound broken by a three-mile hop up I-64 to Route 288. From west of the city, Route 288's four lanes will flow south around the metro area's belly to another interruption, at I-95. To complete the loop back to I-295, it's either a short hop south on I-95 to Route 10 or a four-mile ride north to Route 895, the Pocahontas Parkway [toll road]. Although the final product is a stuttering affair, the combination of roads completes something of a vision."

[cpzilliacus]

HamptonRoads.com/Virginian Pilot: Traffic down 21.8 percent after first week of tolls

After six or seven years of the same agonizing commute, Karen Watkins' trip to and from work changed Feb. 3 in two drastic ways.

One: She had to pay a toll.

Two: The traffic jams disappeared.

"My commute all week last week was wonderful," she said.

Vehicle counts for the first week at the newly tolled Downtown and Midtown tunnels were released Monday, and the numbers reinforce what many drivers are seeing in the suddenly congestion-free crossings. At the same time, they raise questions about whether people already may be returning to their old patterns.

Elizabeth River Crossings, the private tunnel and toll operator, said an average of 103,543 vehicles used the tunnels each weekday last week. That represents a 21.8 percent drop from pre-toll traffic recorded in January, the company said.

[agentsteel53]

it always strikes me as crazy that reducing traffic by only 20% can get rid of the jams.

I've actually read that it is as little as 1%, if you can find the correct 1% to remove.

[cpzilliacus]

it always strikes me as crazy that reducing traffic by only 20% can get rid of the jams.

I've actually read that it is as little as 1%, if you can find the correct 1% to remove.

I suspect that it will "snap back" over time.  But it could make for an interesting timeseries.

[froggie]

it always strikes me as crazy that reducing traffic by only 20% can get rid of the jams.

I've actually read that it is as little as 1%, if you can find the correct 1% to remove.

It doesn't take much.  Often just in the 5-10% range.

[lepidopteran]

it always strikes me as crazy that reducing traffic by only 20% can get rid of the jams.

I've actually read that it is as little as 1%, if you can find the correct 1% to remove.

It doesn't take much.  Often just in the 5-10% range.

I suspect that this is what happened during Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.  There were fears that the LA freeways would become hopelessly gridlocked.  But actually, those two weeks were reportedly one of the few times that there were no traffic jams.  Perhaps only 5% of motorists stayed off the freeways out of fear that traffic would be nasty, and the result was a rare free-flow.

[agentsteel53]

Carmageddon was the same thing.  traffic flowed perfectly.

I for one would be all in favor of "congestion cameras", if we needed to have robots enforcing the law in the first place.  instead of enforcing speed, which is a tertiary problem, I'd train the cameras on the people hogging the left lane, passing inefficiently, merging at the last second, and in general being boorish drivers. 

first ticket can be $1, then it doubles every subsequent offense.  ten offenses and you're talking a serious chunk of change; 15 you've learned your lesson or you're an eccentric.  25, you're an eccentric who has been priced into agoraphobia nonetheless.

[Alps]

Vehicle counts for the first week at the newly tolled Downtown and Midtown tunnels were released Monday, and the numbers reinforce what many drivers are seeing in the suddenly congestion-free crossings. At the same time, they raise questions about whether people already may be returning to their old patterns.

What old patterns? Is anyone measuring the other crossings to see if their traffic went up?

[froggie]

Old patterns = using the Midtown and Downtown tunnels.  I haven't seen the hard numbers, but the implication is that counts were low at the beginning of the week, and ramped up as the week progressed.

[ARMOURERERIC]

When the Hispanic community staged thier "day without immigrants" a few years back, traffic in soCal was so free flowing, that people expressed a desire for it to be like that all the time.  They decided to never have that again.

[Alps]

Old patterns = using the Midtown and Downtown tunnels.  I haven't seen the hard numbers, but the implication is that counts were low at the beginning of the week, and ramped up as the week progressed.

Oh, okay. Yes, people try alternate routes, realize how badly they suck, and decide the toll isn't THAT bad.

[mrsman]

I would like to see the fee removed. Since one already pays for it upfront, it just seems more like a cash grab to charge someone monthly.

All one pays upfront (at least in Virginia) is tolls. There is a $35 up-front charge, I believe, which is all converted to your balance, so only goes to paying tolls.

I agree about removing the EZ-Pass fee, but I wonder about the fairness.  If Virginia removes its fee, what will stop other people from other states coming in and signing up for a Virginia EZ-Pass.

I believe the most fair approach would be for Virginia to impose EZ-Pass fees, but if a driver incurs at least $5 of Virginia tolls per month, the fee is waived.

But I'm happy to have the fees removed, especially for the EZ-Pass Flex, where so far there is no other option to acquire one.

[Alps]

I would like to see the fee removed. Since one already pays for it upfront, it just seems more like a cash grab to charge someone monthly.

All one pays upfront (at least in Virginia) is tolls. There is a $35 up-front charge, I believe, which is all converted to your balance, so only goes to paying tolls.

I agree about removing the EZ-Pass fee, but I wonder about the fairness.  If Virginia removes its fee, what will stop other people from other states coming in and signing up for a Virginia EZ-Pass.

I believe the most fair approach would be for Virginia to impose EZ-Pass fees, but if a driver incurs at least $5 of Virginia tolls per month, the fee is waived.

But I'm happy to have the fees removed, especially for the EZ-Pass Flex, where so far there is no other option to acquire one.

I believe the most fair approach would be for all agencies to remove E-ZPass fees.

[MASTERNC]

DDI interchange at I-64 and US 15 opens next week (as long as the weather hasn't delayed it)

http://www.virginiadot.org/newsroom/culpeper/2014/diverging_diamond_at_zion70780.asp

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Post: Loudoun is happily in a rut

On an icy morning recently in western Loudoun County, Greg Wilmoth eased his school bus over the slick, steep unpaved road and told the parents waiting at each stop: I wouldn’t want my children on this bus today.

Loudoun County, the wealthiest and one of the fastest-growing counties in the U.S., has more than 300 miles of gravel roads -- more than any other county in Virginia.

[froggie]

Not just Loudoun, but in Prince William and Fauquier as well.  One that comes to mind:  SR 606 between VA 28 and SR 607/Carriage Ford Rd.  Paved in Fauquier, gravel in Prince William.  Never stopped me from using it as a "short cut" to/from Culpeper/Warrenton and points west.

[cpzilliacus]

Not just Loudoun, but in Prince William and Fauquier as well.  One that comes to mind:  SR 606 between VA 28 and SR 607/Carriage Ford Rd.  Paved in Fauquier, gravel in Prince William.  Never stopped me from using it as a "short cut" to/from Culpeper/Warrenton and points west.

I will need to check that out. 

I recall a road near there that crossed the Norfolk Southern mainline on a very rickety structure (it had a low weight limit posted by VDOT, but I think I saw in the news that VDOT eventually deemed it unsafe and blocked it off). 

May have been replaced by now.

[Mapmikey]

Not just Loudoun, but in Prince William and Fauquier as well.  One that comes to mind:  SR 606 between VA 28 and SR 607/Carriage Ford Rd.  Paved in Fauquier, gravel in Prince William.  Never stopped me from using it as a "short cut" to/from Culpeper/Warrenton and points west.

I will need to check that out. 

I recall a road near there that crossed the Norfolk Southern mainline on a very rickety structure (it had a low weight limit posted by VDOT, but I think I saw in the news that VDOT eventually deemed it unsafe and blocked it off). 

May have been replaced by now.

You may be referring to the SR 646 Aden Rd bridge, built in 1882, pic below I took in 2008.  VDOT is scheduled to widen and rehab this bridge starting in spring 2015 - http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/northernvirginia/aden_road.asp



Mapmikey

[agentsteel53]

built in 1882

that's gotta be one of the oldest steel through truss bridges in existence.  any older ones around?  any older bridge I can think of than 1882 is covered wooden, stone arch, suspension, or that one on US-11.

[Mapmikey]

built in 1882

that's gotta be one of the oldest steel through truss bridges in existence.  any older ones around?  any older bridge I can think of than 1882 is covered wooden, stone arch, suspension, or that one on US-11.

VDOT says this one below (my 2009 photo) is from the 1870s.  It is the original Rappahannock River crossing for VA 21 and US 211 near Waterloo.



Mapmikey

[cpzilliacus]

I believe the most fair approach would be for all agencies to remove E-ZPass fees.

Agreed. E-ZPass maintenance and operations should be part of the tolls charged. 

Only "extra" fee should be for the transponders themselves, and since nearly every E-ZPass Group member I know about is planning to eventually go cashless, I think it might be sound policy to give those away at no extra charge.

[Mapmikey]

built in 1882

that's gotta be one of the oldest steel through truss bridges in existence.  any older ones around?  any older bridge I can think of than 1882 is covered wooden, stone arch, suspension, or that one on US-11.

Here's one partially intact from 1884 (old VA 45 crossing of James)...1st entry with 8 photos
http://www.vahighways.com/oldbridges/abandoned.htm

Augusta County used to have several from the turn of the century or slightly older...

Mapmikey