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[1995hoo]

The Virginia politicians haven't done a good job at all of explaining the differences between the various toll projects, and the media sloppiness doesn't help. Most people here are aware of the HOT lane project on the Beltway. Many people have also heard of the proposal to extend the I-95 express lanes to the south as an HOT facility and to convert the south-of-the-Beltway portion of the express lanes to HOT. But from what I've observed, the majority of non-roadgeeks—and even some politicians to whom I've spoken!!!—don't realize that the "I-95 tolls" proposal is separate from the I-95 HOT proposal. When they realize there's a proposal to toll all traffic on I-95 once you get south of Fredericksburg, they go ballistic and they start complaining that (a) we have a gas tax to pay for that and (b) the General Assembly should just man up and pay the gas tax. People also cannot seem to separate the idea of tolls from their mental images of massive backups in Newark, Delaware, over the years on the Delaware Turnpike. Even people who are aware of E-ZPass automatically envision toll plazas. I suppose that's not unreasonable in this case—what are the chances that the feds would allow Virginia to pursue an all-ORT system on I-95 when the toll will apply to every lane, rather than just to managed lanes?

I certainly understand people's reluctance to pay tolls for a road that used to be toll-free. Nobody likes to pay. But the people in Richmond who understand the way the proposal works could do a far better job of explaining why raising the gas tax would not produce the same funding as toll would. The gas tax is apportioned all around the Commonwealth in a variety of ways and unless they amend those regulations, they can't simply raise the gas tax and dedicate all the money to one particular road. But the General Assembly members from more rural areas where they don't use I-95 are unlikely ever to allow amendments to dedicate the money to a road that doesn't pass anywhere near their districts. (Anyone who lives in Northern Virginia will have witnessed the rest of the Commonwealth's refusal to adjust transportation funding formulas to send more money up here even though we pay more in taxes than the rest of the state. There's no reason to think anything different would happen with an increased gas tax.) The politicians also haven't explained that once I-95 is tolled, Virginia forfeits any federal funding for that road. In a sense, there would be a level of "paying twice" insofar as the Virginia portion of the gas tax would still be sending funding to I-95. But that tax portion would be minute IF people could view it through the prism of considering the portion of the tax that gets devoted to I-95.

I think I'd rather have seen them pursue this on I-81 than on I-95 simply because I-81 is so much more unpleasant to drive due to having only two lanes on a side for most of its length in Virginia.

[74/171FAN]

I got rid of all the political banter(I think).  Please avoid political arguments in this forum.  They just bring unnecessary debate and argument for a site that is not meant to deal with politics.

-Mark

[Beltway]

I got rid of all the political banter(I think).  Please avoid political arguments in this forum.  They just bring unnecessary debate and argument for a site that is not meant to deal with politics.
-Mark

You did, and I am pleased!

These political comments are fine, and I agree with them --

<<< The Virginia politicians haven't done a good job at all of explaining the differences between the various toll projects, and the media sloppiness doesn't help. >>>

--
Beltway
"Never saw a beltway that I didn't like"

[Alps]

I got rid of all the political banter(I think).  Please avoid political arguments in this forum.  They just bring unnecessary debate and argument for a site that is not meant to deal with politics.

-Mark

I restored the last post minus the one overtly political comment. I think there are some constructive points worth considering.

[cpzilliacus]

WTOP Radio: Keeping the cheaters out of the new HOT lanes

[1995hoo]

WTOP Radio: Keeping the cheaters out of the new HOT lanes

For some reason I can't keep myself from looking at the reader comments on those articles. A lot of those people make ethanman62187 look like a towering intellectual.

The WTOP article also illustrates a point someone made in one of the now-deleted posts in this thread (one made in response to my comments above about the politicians doing a poor job of explaining the rationale for seeking to toll I-95) where somebody said that the media ignorance just makes it worse. The WTOP article notes that Fluor and Transurban are working out "a deal" with the Virginia State Police to have a dedicated HOT enforcement unit. I might be wrong, but "working out a deal" strongly implies that Fluor and Transurban will pay at least a substantial portion of the cost of these extra troopers, at least in terms of their salaries. But it's unclear. I assume part of the reason the story is vague about it is that the participants won't comment on a deal that's still under negotiation, which is standard procedure in the business world. It doesn't help to silence the whiners, though, when the story is devoid of detail. Adam Tuss certainly knows the details of the project, including the switchable E-ZPass, and it's a shame that WTOP's sound-bite radio format won't allow him to write a longer story for posting on their website.

The level of public ignorance about this project is really quite pathetic. Most of the time when I've talked to people about it and explained what I know of the details, people find it interesting and comment that the usual media outlets could explain these things a lot better. But I think a lot of the people you encounter commenting on these things online are people who don't think much beyond a second-grade level and who like to whine. "The HOT lanes suck, and if you like them, you suck too." Very enlightened commentary there.



BTW, semi-related: Last night I was on my way home from Fairview Park shortly after 10:00 PM and I took the Outer Loop. I noted that they've started laying steel for the HOT exit/entrance at Braddock Road. Those of you who use that part of the Beltway frequently may wish to keep your ears peeled, since at some point there will have to be night closures as they lay steel across the travel lanes (the ramp will fly over the Outer Loop and enter/exit the HOT lanes from the center of the roadway, i.e., a left exit for southbound traffic and a left entrance northbound).

[Beltway]

WTOP Radio: Keeping the cheaters out of the new HOT lanes

For some reason I can't keep myself from looking at the reader comments on those articles. A lot of those people make ethanman62187 look like a towering intellectual.

The WTOP article also illustrates a point someone made in one of the now-deleted posts in this thread (one made in response to my comments above about the politicians doing a poor job of explaining the rationale for seeking to toll I-95) where somebody said that the media ignorance just makes it worse. The WTOP article notes that Fluor and Transurban are working out "a deal" with the Virginia State Police to have a dedicated HOT enforcement unit. I might be wrong, but "working out a deal" strongly implies that Fluor and Transurban will pay at least a substantial portion of the cost of these extra troopers, at least in terms of their salaries. But it's unclear. I assume part of the reason the story is vague about it is that the participants won't comment on a deal that's still under negotiation, which is standard procedure in the business world. It doesn't help to silence the whiners, though, when the story is devoid of detail. Adam Tuss certainly knows the details of the project, including the switchable E-ZPass, and it's a shame that WTOP's sound-bite radio format won't allow him to write a longer story for posting on their website.

The level of public ignorance about this project is really quite pathetic. Most of the time when I've talked to people about it and explained what I know of the details, people find it interesting and comment that the usual media outlets could explain these things a lot better. But I think a lot of the people you encounter commenting on these things online are people who don't think much beyond a second-grade level and who like to whine. "The HOT lanes suck, and if you like them, you suck too." Very enlightened commentary there.

Or use sloganeering like "Lexus Lanes" ... :-)

The newspapers don't even do well with the issue of increasing the motor fuels tax.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch supports such increases, but conducts and posts "polls" that have questions that seem designed to arrive at a majority negative opinion about increases.

[1995hoo]

BTW, in case it wasn't clear, in my post from Monday morning when I said "Most people here are aware of the HOT lane project on the Beltway," by "here" I meant "in Northern Virginia," not "on the AARoads forum." As I re-read it now I realize it probably wasn't clear how I meant that sentence. People on this forum are by our very nature a lot more aware of the plans for these sorts of projects than your average random local motorist.

[Takumi]

I-95 south of Richmond is in the process of being repaved. The most travelled portion for me is northbound from exits 50 to 54, usually at night when they're working on it (tonight, for example, they were working on and around Exit 52). It's caused some rough travels home for me, but the finished product has been worth it. The exit 61 (VA 10) area has also been undergoing repaving southbound recently.

[cpzilliacus]

BTW, in case it wasn't clear, in my post from Monday morning when I said "Most people here are aware of the HOT lane project on the Beltway," by "here" I meant "in Northern Virginia," not "on the AARoads forum." As I re-read it now I realize it probably wasn't clear how I meant that sentence. People on this forum are by our very nature a lot more aware of the plans for these sorts of projects than your average random local motorist.

Beltway, even after Maryland's ICC opened, it was absolutely amazing to me how many people (working or living right next to the ICC) don't know where it goes or that toll collection will be all-electronic.

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Post editorial: Help for Virginia’s crumbling roads

As Bob Chase, a transportation analyst, wrote recently for the University of Virginia's Cooper Center for Public Service, since 1986 Virginia has added 1.5 million licensed drivers, 2 million people and 2.9 million registered vehicles — but not a dime in new, long-term transportation funding. If utilities were similarly ignored, Virginians would lack heat, electricity and water. "The basic problem," says Mr. Chase, "is the people of Virginia are not being asked to pay for the transportation they are using."

[cpzilliacus]

Article by Bob Chase on Virginia’s Transportation Funding Crisis in the Virginia News Letter (published by the Cooper Center for Public Service) can be read online and optionally downloaded here.

In the interest of full disclosure, readers should know that I am a dues-paying member of the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance, of which Bob Chase is the president.

[Takumi]

VA 109 is, at least temporarily, not accessible or posted from US 460 Business westbound. There's some utility work going on at the intersection and the movement from 460 Business to 109 has been torn up. There are two no-right-turn signs posted and the trailblazer has been removed. Eastbound 460 Business can still turn onto VA 109, and its trailblazer is still there (although it looks like it's about to fall over). If you're in this area I would have already recommended bypassing this segment entirely as 460 Business has serious pavement issues anyway, but it's even worse around the VA 109 intersection.

Edit: I made a blog post about it.

[cpzilliacus]

WTOP Radio report:  Tolls may soar on road to Dulles

Whether or not drivers on the Dulles Toll Road want the Dulles Rail project or not, they are helping to pay for it -- and they may get hit with an even larger bill in the near future.

About 75 percent of the financing for the second phase of the project -- the section that will run from Reston to Dulles International Airport and continue into Loudoun County -- is coming from toll road revenue.

While toll road rates will jump by 25 cents in January, there is no further toll increase schedule yet in place. But indications are that higher-than-expected cost estimates related to the project's second phase could push tolls way up -- as much as about $7 for a one-way trip by 2020, according to some estimates.

[Takumi]

Isn't it already $5.75 during peak times by the airport? (Side story relating to this: this summer a friend I was with was driving on 267 for the first time, so he didn't know about the tolls, let alone the non-peak $4.25. Made for some interesting inside jokes, particularly for another person who didn't read the toll costs correctly.)

[cpzilliacus]

Isn't it already $5.75 during peak times by the airport? (Side story relating to this: this summer a friend I was with was driving on 267 for the first time, so he didn't know about the tolls, let alone the non-peak $4.25. Made for some interesting inside jokes, particularly for another person who didn't read the toll costs correctly.)

I think you are speaking of the tolls on the (privately-owned) Dulles Greenway, which is Va. 267 west of Va. 28 (Sully Road) and the airport. 

The tolls on the Dulles Toll Road (formerly owned by VDOT, now MWAA) are currently only $2 (one way) from I-495 to Va. 28 (but will be going up again soon to pay for the Dulles Rail project).

[1995hoo]

Isn't it already $5.75 during peak times by the airport? (Side story relating to this: this summer a friend I was with was driving on 267 for the first time, so he didn't know about the tolls, let alone the non-peak $4.25. Made for some interesting inside jokes, particularly for another person who didn't read the toll costs correctly.)

I think you are speaking of the tolls on the (privately-owned) Dulles Greenway, which is Va. 267 west of Va. 28 (Sully Road) and the airport. 

The tolls on the Dulles Toll Road (formerly owned by VDOT, now MWAA) are currently only $2 (one way) from I-495 to Va. 28 (but will be going up again soon to pay for the Dulles Rail project).

The toll at the main plaza goes up 25¢ next month. I don't know whether any of the ramp tolls are changing. In the WTOP article cited above, someone involved with the road's operations said to expect annual increases.

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Post editorial: Half-measures on Virginia’s transportation crisis

[1995hoo]

The Washington Post's Dr. Gridlock reports that, weather permitting, the new flyover ramp from eastbound I-66 to the Inner Loop of the Beltway is to open this coming weekend.

This is a long-overdue improvement because it will eliminate the annoying left-lane merge for most traffic heading towards Tysons. The left-hand HOV exit will continue to funnel some traffic into the left lane for now, though eventually that exit will connect to the HOT lanes.

[froggie]

As I recall, the left-lane merge isn't a merge per-se but begins a new left lane, at least with how the present construction setup is.

[1995hoo]

As I recall, the left-lane merge isn't a merge per-se but begins a new left lane, at least with how the present construction setup is.

It always used to be a merge, but with the construction the configuration changes so often that I wouldn't be surprised if it's presently different. The last time I had to go to Tysons I took Gallows Road due to a wreck on the Beltway, and on all my recent trips that way on the Beltway I've exited at I-66. So I haven't had reason to notice the current setup, but either way, it seems to me that having the traffic enter the Beltway on the right is a big improvement regardless of whether the current configuration is a merge or the beginning of a new lane, especially given how many people going from I-66 to the Beltway there intend to exit at Tysons and so have to try to work their way across all four lanes before the next exit.

At some point in the spring there will be a similar reconfiguration of westbound Exit 64 so that traffic enters the Outer Loop from the right. The existing ramp will serve the HOT lanes.

[cpzilliacus]

The Washington Post's Dr. Gridlock reports that, weather permitting, the new flyover ramp from eastbound I-66 to the Inner Loop of the Beltway is to open this coming weekend.

This is a long-overdue improvement because it will eliminate the annoying left-lane merge for most traffic heading towards Tysons. The left-hand HOV exit will continue to funnel some traffic into the left lane for now, though eventually that exit will connect to the HOT lanes.

I strongly agree.  This is one the worst bottlenecks on a very congested section of highway. 

It has been like that ever since the HOV lanes outside the Capital Beltway were built in the early 1990's. 

[Takumi]

The Progress-Index (Petersburg) reports that the I-295 Meadowville interchange is now open: http://www.progress-index.com/news/new-i-295-interchange-expected-to-spur-growth-1.1245753 (posting this from my phone, apologies if it doesn't load correctly). I'll go out into the field tomorrow and get some pictures.

[froggie]

While you're out, exit number would be helpful.

[Beltway]

While you're out, exit number would be helpful.

Exit 16