Virginia

[cpzilliacus]

Bacon's Rebellion: The Tallest Bridges in Virginia

[cpzilliacus]

In other Virginia news, it looks like tolls at the Midtown and Downtown tunnels are starting in February. The state Supreme Court overturned the local judge's ruling against them:

http://hamptonroads.com/2013/10/va-supreme-court-reverses-ruling-tunnel-tolls

Pump, this is good news. 

I realize that many people in Hampton Roads feel that their (expensive and often congested) bridges and tunnels should be free of tolls, but keeping the Commonwealth's motor fuel tax low seems a higher priority to the members of the Virginia General Assembly.  The same can be said about Northern Virginia, though there it's usually a lack of highway capacity overall, not just crossings of large bodies of water.

That being the case, tolls are the only alternative - unless local governments in these congested parts of Virginia want to jack-up their taxes on real property.

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Post: Sudley Church in Manassas battlefield worries Bi-County Parkway plan will doom its future

But Sudley Church, which sits on a hillside in Manassas National Battlefield Park, still defines itself by the role its parishioners played amid some of the most brutal days of the Civil War.

Now its pastor, Bass Mitchell, worries that protecting the battlefield's history will destroy his congregation's future.

That's because the church lies alongside a road, once a simple dirt path, that as Northern Virginia has grown has become a busy commuter route. Dump trucks thunder past the weathered split-rail fences that line the fields of the Manassas battlefield, and at rush hours, traffic inches along.

To protect the historic park, the National Park Service would like to shut down the stretch of Route 234 in the battlefield. "We have been working literally for decades to find solutions to get traffic down,"  said Ed Clark, the superintendent of the park. "It's hallowed ground, a place for contemplation, understanding history. Fighting traffic and trucks is not exactly the way to facilitate that."

[cpzilliacus]

Richmond.com: Why Richmond, Why?!? Questions About Historic Granite

I was walking down the street the other day ago, and found what looks to be either an old County Line marker or a tombstone between the sidewalk and the curb. The inscription on it says C.L. 1906 (unsure what the year date on it actually is). Just curious what it actually is, and if there are any more markers like this one? - Tom Jones

"The City placed these markers in 1906 and 1914 at the time of annexation. There are a number of survivors around the City," wrote Richmond historian Tyler Potterfield (also of the City of Richmond Department of Planning and Development Review). 

"City Limit" or "City Line" are my best assumptions but I could not find a confirmation for what the initials represent. There are more markers there, but the ones I mentioned are the ones I've seen or have been reported to me. Post yours below or email me priggan@richmond.com, I'm thinking about making another map of all the markers.

[Mapmikey]

Probably stands for "Coporate Limits" which is a term the CTB uses going back to at least 1922.


Mapmikey

[cpzilliacus]

In other Virginia news, it looks like tolls at the Midtown and Downtown tunnels are starting in February. The state Supreme Court overturned the local judge's ruling against them:

http://hamptonroads.com/2013/10/va-supreme-court-reverses-ruling-tunnel-tolls

More about the aftermath of the ruling of the Virginia (state) Supreme Court.

HamptonRoads.com: Toll opponents' attorney: "They're not quitting"

The state's highest court delivered what appeared to be a knockout blow Thursday to an effort to stop the Elizabeth River tunnel tolls. That evening, about a dozen determined fighters gathered to discuss how they might go another round.

They talked for about two hours, mulling their options and chances for success. Their attorney, Patrick McSweeney, was there, still incredulous over the Supreme Court justices' reasoning. He had heard their ruling in person, then driven to Portsmouth to counsel his clients.

Ideas ranged from a legislative fix that would require political pressure, to a federal challenge, to hope that voters on Tuesday would elect Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, whom the toll opponents view as an ally.

Friday morning, McSweeney said he was "working on something"  but wasn't ready to divulge specifics. He was more clear about the resolve of the group.

"They're not,"  he said, "going to quit."

[cpzilliacus]

Probably stands for "Coporate Limits" which is a term the CTB uses going back to at least 1922.

Yeah, that makes loads of sense.  VDOT (and before VDOT, VDH) has posted "Corporate Limits" in a smallish typeface under the name of towns at town (but not city) limits for as long as I can remember.

[Mapmikey]

I was just on it Sunday and, while I didn't have my camera, I don't recall any significant/noticeable grade changes near the loop.

I was able to go look at this today in the daytime.  The rise that 1995hoo found just past the new ramp to 17 south is the normal rise of the road that has always been there and happens to be a lot higher than the NB lanes of 15-29.

Two other notes:  VMS signs suggest this ramp opens Nov. 11 and that the old 17 by the Sheetz, etc is posted as F1077 already from US 15-29.  I don't know if the F-designation carries all the way to where the new 17 ties in as I used SR 663 to get back to 17 after driving by the ramp.

Mapmikey

[MASTERNC]

The US 17 ramp in Opal opens Monday, per VDOT

http://www.virginiadot.org/newsroom/culpeper/2013/flyover_to_open_at69145.asp

[cpzilliacus]

Daily Progress via Richmond Times-Dispatch: Incoming board could put brakes on Western Bypass

More than two years and $50 million after the so-called "midnight vote,"  the road still might go nowhere.

The Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization, or MPO, could vote to slam the brakes on the project to build the Western Bypass of U.S. 29, said Sarah Rhodes, program coordinator for the MPO, the federally mandated entity tasked with long-range regional transportation planning.

"At any time, the MPO could start or stop a project,"  Rhodes said.

The MPO, which controls the area's Transportation Improvement Program, has final say over how the Federal Highway Administration obligates funds, Rhodes said. All it would take is a vote, and funding for the bypass would be blocked, Rhodes said.

Federal environmental requirements or a different direction from Richmond following the change in the governor's mansion from Republican Bob McDonnell to Democrat Terry McAuliffe also could impact the $245-million project, officials said.

[cpzilliacus]

TOLLROADSnews: New Virginia governor McAuliffe to try negotiating lower Norfolk-Portsmouth tolls

Virginia's governor-elect Terry McAuliffe says he wants to lower the tolls set to start at the Elizabeth River Tunnels February 1 next year. The tolls being levied under a toll concession rceently survived a state supreme court review in which the court unanimously upheld their legality and constitutional authority.

Tolls are already among the lowest levied on any major tunnel:

$1.59 off-peak and $1.84 peak hours for cars and 3-axle vehicles and over $4.77 and $7.36. Those are with an E-ZPass transponder account.

[cpzilliacus]

The US 17 ramp in Opal opens Monday, per VDOT

http://www.virginiadot.org/newsroom/culpeper/2013/flyover_to_open_at69145.asp

Bob Marbourg, P.M. drive traffic reporter on Washington's WTOP Radio, reported this afternoon that the new ramp in "downtown" Opal is open to traffic.

At least for now, he reported that it is still possible to make the at-grade left to follow U.S. 17 from Warrenton in the direction of Bealeton, I-95 and Fredericksburg.

As an aside, WTOP has a repeater FM transmitter (107.7 mHz) someplace near Opal.

[Mapmikey]

At least for now, he reported that it is still possible to make the at-grade left to follow U.S. 17 from Warrenton in the direction of Bealeton, I-95 and Fredericksburg.

This will continue to be available going forward.  It is already posted as F1077 and also reaching SR 608 Clarkes Rd would be extremely inconvenient if the left turn were taken away.

Mapmikey

[mtfallsmikey]

TOLLROADSnews: New Virginia governor McAuliffe to try negotiating lower Norfolk-Portsmouth tolls

Virginia's governor-elect Terry McAuliffe says he wants to lower the tolls set to start at the Elizabeth River Tunnels February 1 next year. The tolls being levied under a toll concession rceently survived a state supreme court review in which the court unanimously upheld their legality and constitutional authority.

Tolls are already among the lowest levied on any major tunnel:

$1.59 off-peak and $1.84 peak hours for cars and 3-axle vehicles and over $4.77 and $7.36. Those are with an E-ZPass transponder account.

I would actually start liking him if he reduced tolls on The Dulles Greenway.... but.

[cpzilliacus]

This will continue to be available going forward.  It is already posted as F1077 and also reaching SR 608 Clarkes Rd would be extremely inconvenient if the left turn were taken away.

Taking that left away would probably do significant economic damage to the Sheetz store in Opal, which has (at least in the past) very much relied on traffic making that left turn. 

[ARMOURERERIC]

I am familliar with this intersection.  One article says a flyover, one says a loop ramp.  What did they do there, google maps does not even show the construction yet.

[Takumi]

[1995hoo]

I am familliar with this intersection.  One article says a flyover, one says a loop ramp.  What did they do there, google maps does not even show the construction yet.

If you're going south on US-29 (say, from DC to Charlottesville), instead of turning left at the existing light you go a short distance past it and take a loop-around ramp on the right that goes around and back over US-29. Some people think of that as a flyover because you're passing over the road, although I think most of us would consider a flyover to be a higher-speed configuration. VDOT's press release calls it a flyover as well.

I guess if you want to visualize it, this particular ramp is probably most similar to a partial trumpet interchange. It just doesn't have the other movements that normally go along with a trumpet. For example, traffic coming from northbound Route 17 doesn't have an accompanying ramp to access southbound Route 29. There's not really a lot of reason for most traffic to need to make said movement because you can use Route 28 a few miles south to cut off some distance.


Edited to add: VDOT has a .PDF diagram available at http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/resources/Culpeper/Opal_Interchange/Opal_Interchange_Diagram.pdf



Edited again: BTW, they're still considering proposals for the proposed interchange at the southern end of the Warrenton bypass where 15/17/29 Business all split off to go through the town. I believe they've said work on that might begin in 2017 if they select an alternative and the FHWA concurs.

[Mapmikey]

Edited again: BTW, they're still considering proposals for the proposed interchange at the southern end of the Warrenton bypass where 15/17/29 Business all split off to go through the town. I believe they've said work on that might begin in 2017 if they select an alternative and the FHWA concurs.

A couple of these alternatives would connect VA 355 to the rest of the primary system...

Mapmikey

[ARMOURERERIC]

From the VDOT diagram, it appears that they got ROW to build a half-cloverleaf style terminus, as opposed to a trumpet.  I would be curious if there is some far off plan to make a full cloverleaf and an extension to some point yet to be determined.

[1995hoo]

From the VDOT diagram, it appears that they got ROW to build a half-cloverleaf style terminus, as opposed to a trumpet.  I would be curious if there is some far off plan to make a full cloverleaf and an extension to some point yet to be determined.

Fair enough. I used the term "trumpet" because it's more or less the closest to what's actually there given that Route 17 joins Route 29 at Opal. Extending Route 17 would essentially constitute building sort of a western bypass around Warrenton, although it'd be on a larger scale than that. I'd be a bit surprised if we see that in any of our lifetimes. I remember when they built the interchange east of Warrenton where the existing 15/29 Bypass splits off the old route through town. It doesn't seem that long ago. My father talks about how when he attended UVA Law, he used to take US-211 west from Warrenton to VA-229 south through Rixeyville to Culpeper. It cut off a couple of lights in both of those towns. I believe the bypass around Culpeper opened a year or two after he graduated. The US-15/29 bypass east of Warrenton is a lot newer than that, and I believe the US-17 northern bypass at Warrenton opened sometime in the 1990s.

By the way, for those interested in error shields, if you take eastbound I-66 from Haymarket to Gainesville and then bear right to exit onto Route 29, you'll see some erroneous VA-29 shields posted on I-66's C/D roadway. I spotted them on November 2 but was too far over to get a good picture (we weren't exiting and I only saw the error shields at the last moment as we went by on the mainline). The ramp from eastbound 66 to southbound 29 is closed as part of the ongoing reconstruction project and the erroneous state shields are there to indicate the detour route.

[cpzilliacus]

I would actually start liking him if he reduced tolls on The Dulles Greenway.... but.

As I understand it, the tolls on the Greenway are regulated by the State Corporation Commission (SCC). I don't know how much any Governor of Virginia has influence over the SCC (which I believe is at least quasi-judicial in terms of its functioning) and its decision making process.

[ARMOURERERIC]

From the VDOT diagram, it appears that they got ROW to build a half-cloverleaf style terminus, as opposed to a trumpet.  I would be curious if there is some far off plan to make a full cloverleaf and an extension to some point yet to be determined.

Fair enough. I used the term "trumpet" because it's more or less the closest to what's actually there given that Route 17 joins Route 29 at Opal. Extending Route 17 would essentially constitute building sort of a western bypass around Warrenton, although it'd be on a larger scale than that. I'd be a bit surprised if we see that in any of our lifetimes. I remember when they built the interchange east of Warrenton where the existing 15/29 Bypass splits off the old route through town. It doesn't seem that long ago. My father talks about how when he attended UVA Law, he used to take US-211 west from Warrenton to VA-229 south through Rixeyville to Culpeper. It cut off a couple of lights in both of those towns. I believe the bypass around Culpeper opened a year or two after he graduated. The US-15/29 bypass east of Warrenton is a lot newer than that, and I believe the US-17 northern bypass at Warrenton opened sometime in the 1990s.

By the way, for those interested in error shields, if you take eastbound I-66 from Haymarket to Gainesville and then bear right to exit onto Route 29, you'll see some erroneous VA-29 shields posted on I-66's C/D roadway. I spotted them on November 2 but was too far over to get a good picture (we weren't exiting and I only saw the error shields at the last moment as we went by on the mainline). The ramp from eastbound 66 to southbound 29 is closed as part of the ongoing reconstruction project and the erroneous state shields are there to indicate the detour route.

I was not intending to be critical of your trumpet description, I was more expressing surprise that VDOT had set it up for some kind of future extension.

[froggie]

Tolls are already among the lowest levied on any major tunnel:

Yeah, TollRoadsNews, it's kinda hard to get lower than zero, since there haven't been any tolls on the Midtown/Downtown Tunnels in decades.

As I understand it, the tolls on the Greenway are regulated by the State Corporation Commission (SCC). I don't know how much any Governor of Virginia has influence over the SCC (which I believe is at least quasi-judicial in terms of its functioning) and its decision making process.

However, the Governor can exert some influence on the General Assembly, who could easily provide more state funding to the Dulles Rail project and thus reduce the amount of toll increase needed.  Same principle with the Midtown/Downtown/MLK project.  Or the Governor could exert influence on VDOT and the CTB to divert funding to those projects in order to lower the tolls.

I was not intending to be critical of your trumpet description, I was more expressing surprise that VDOT had set it up for some kind of future extension.

Not much of an extension, to be fair.  From what I've gleaned of past Fauquier County plans, any such extension west of 15/29 would simply tie into the secondary route system nearby.  No significant extension west, nor is there any real need for such.

[1995hoo]

For those of you who drive in Fairfax County....

At our HOA's annual meeting last night, some staffers from Supervisor Jeff McKay's office (he was unable to attend himself) told us that Mulligan Road, the new connector from Telegraph Road to US-1, should open next spring. It will run from Telegraph near Hilltop Golf Club and the under-construction Wegmans and will emerge on Route 1 at the intersection with Route 235 (Mount Vernon Memorial Highway) near George Washington's grist mill. Long-overdue replacement for the roads the Army blocked off after 9-11.

The construction on Telegraph Road between Van Dorn Street and Kings Highway is supposed to be finished in late 2014. Utility relocation has been the main holdup.

The widening of Route 1 through Fort Belvoir is supposed to be done by February 2016.

I recently noticed some new blue signs on Van Dorn directing people to use Metro Road, rather than Eisenhower Avenue, to the Metro station. It seems Fairfax County has been trying to get Alexandria to close off the annoying left turn from southbound Van Dorn to eastbound Eisenhower because it eats up too much of what would otherwise be green time for northbound Van Dorn (the traffic backups every morning are hideous....it can take us 45 minutes to go three miles to the Metro stop). It would be easy enough for Alexandria to do this because of the loop-around route afforded by Metro Road, but for whatever reason they refuse to do so. The only thing they've agreed to is to allow improved signage encouraging people to use Metro Road instead of the left turn. But of course that won't solve anything because they won't change the light cycle unless people start using the other route, and people won't start using the other route unless they're forced to do so. It's sort of a chicken-egg problem.


Finally.....froggie might get a kick out of this....some elderly man wasted everyone's time asking multiple questions about the long-dead Lockheed Boulevard Connector. He wouldn't shut up despite being told it was deleted from the plans. He was upset that Van Dorn was extended to Telegraph without the Lockheed Connector being built. The damage that would have been done to Huntley Meadows made that road a non-option.