Archive: March 2008
More Than 20,000 Take Metro to Opening Day
Metro reports that it transported 21,492 baseball fans to and from the Navy Yard station yesterday for the Nationals' Opening Day game. Total ridership for the day was 332,737, according to Metro, far and above the average Sunday traffic of 207,735. Metro stayed open until 1 a.m. to accommodate the crowds and added 15 extra trains after the game to carry people home. Did you take Metro to the game? How was your experience?...
By Amy L. Kovac | March 31, 2008; 3:12 PM ET | Comments (14)
New Parking For National Airport
The garages at Reagan National Airport are going to get a new top deck, adding 1,424 spaces. The $54 million topper on Garages A, B and C is scheduled to be done in 2010, increasing parking by about 27 percent, the airports authority says. First, though, the construction project will require the closing of 162 parking spaces on the top of Garage C. But the airports authority, which also operates Dulles, plans to open a 700-space temporary parking lot near the Economy Lot by this summer. A free shuttle will provide transportation to all the terminals. Parking is often tight at the airport, so check its Web site for updates on availability before leaving for a flight. Also, watch out for changing traffic patterns created by the construction. You also can call 703-417-7275 for parking information....
By | March 31, 2008; 5:35 AM ET | Comments (8)
Traffic Weekend in Washington
Three events are likely to make this a difficult weekend for travel in Washington: The National Marathon on Saturday, the opening of the annual Cherry Blossom Festival on Saturday and two baseball games at the new Nationals Stadium. National Marathon Many people enjoyed this event last spring, but D.C. residents and visitors were howling about the extensive street closures that trapped them in their cars or in their neighborhoods. The marathon's Web site has a very good guide to the Saturday plan, along with a map of the marathon and half marathon routes and a list of the temporary street closings. You'll find them all on this page. Cherry Blossom Festival Saturday is opening day for the festival, which will continue for two weeks. This should be the peak weekend for viewing the blossoms around the Tidal Basin. The National Park Service closed the Tidal Basin parking lot at 1501...
By | March 28, 2008; 6:41 AM ET | Comments (9)
GW Parkway Rehab Planned
The National Park Service tonight will host the first of two public information meetings to discuss proposed improvements in the northern part of the George Washington Parkway, between the Capital Beltway and Spout Run. The proposal calls for repaving, construction of curbs and gutters to improve drainage, improvements in the guard walls and reconfiguration of the interchange with Route 123. As with much of the parkway system in the Washington region, the original design didn't envision today's traffic volume and speeds, or their evolution from scenic roadways to major commuter routes. But as with other rehabilitation projects on the Rock Creek Parkway and the Humpback Bridge, this latest effort will attempt to balance the modern demands with the original purpose of the parkways. The first meeting, from 7 to 9 o'clock tonight, is the McLean Community Center, 1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean. The second session will be held from 4 to...
By | March 27, 2008; 5:41 AM ET | Comments (14)
Arlington Safety Enforcement Today
Fair warning from the Arlington Police Department: From 3 to 7 p.m. today, according to police, they will target four busy intersections for enforcement of pedestrian safety laws. This is part of the region-wide Street Smart campaign. These are the intersections: North Veitch Street and Key Boulevard, George Mason Drive and South 13th Street, Columbia Pike and South Scott Street and Columbia Pike and South Frederick Street. (The first two were picked because they're near elementary schools. The other two are very heavy areas for vehicle and pedestrian traffic along the Columbia Pike corridor.) What you'll see: Officers will ticket drivers who speed or fail to yield for pedestrians in crosswalks. But they'll also be watching for pedestrians and bicyclists who fail to obey traffic laws....
By | March 26, 2008; 12:01 PM ET | Comments (5)
Walking or Biking to Baseball
To complete our blogging way through the travel options for Nationals Park, here are some walking and biking options. Street by Metro station. (Thomson) Walking If you're heading from downtown, the Mall or Capitol Hill, it's downhill toward the Anacostia riverfront. You'd be doing the pre-game walk in daylight for most games. Here are some possible routes: -- From L'Enfant Plaza, walk south on 7th Street, go left on I Street and continue south on 6th Street to M Street SW. Turn left and walk to South Capitol Street. -- From Federal Center SW, come down 3rd Street, turn right on E Street, left down 4th Street, left on I Street to a right on 3rd Street, then a left on M Street SW. -- From the Capitol area, you can come straight down South Capitol Street, but I prefer New Jersey Avenue, even though it's less direct. It's a...
By | March 26, 2008; 5:39 AM ET | Comments (7)
Navigating Roads to Nats Park
What if you decide not to chant the Take Metro mantra and instead drive to the new baseball stadium opening this weekend? South Capitol Street traffic on a recent weeknight. (Thomson) If you hold season tickets and paid the substantial extra charge for parking, you've got directions to your parking area from the Nationals. The team continues to develop its Way to Go page, showing various options for getting to the games. This is the directions page with directions for those with reserved parking spaces. The presentation includes an interactive map that, like the Way to Go page, continues to add useful information. Now, you can identify your parking area, then pick your starting point, and the map will display a best-bet route for you. Not displayed -- and I wish they would do it -- are routes to Lot 8 at RFK Stadium, where the plebians will park for...
By | March 25, 2008; 8:16 AM ET | Comments (8)
Overturned Truck Snarls Traffic on Outer Loop
An afternoon accident on the Capital Beltway's outer loop between Connecticut and Georgia avenues closed the two left lanes, causing disruptions, according to MapTuit traffic reports. The two left lanes are now reopened....
By washingtonpost.com editors | March 24, 2008; 3:56 PM ET | Comments (3)
Getting to Games by Transit
The addition of a 41,000-seat baseball stadium to a D.C. neighborhood just getting used to traffic has not created a new transportation system. No new highways or roads or train lines were built to accommodate the crowds. Navy Yard Station. (Thomson) The main new thing is the rebuilt exit for the Navy Yard Metro station. That's scheduled to be open by this weekend, when major league games start at Nationals Park on South Capitol Street. Walk a block south from the station and you'll see how much is riding on the success of this transit solution: You'll be facing the two tiny-looking garages built to accommodate some of the season ticket holders. Making this work is more a management challenge than a construction program. The D.C. government, the Nationals and Metro can do all their publicity advising fans to "Take Metro, Take Metro, Take Metro" to the games, but it's...
By | March 24, 2008; 8:30 AM ET | Comments (8)
The Weekend and Beyond
Here are some things you might need to know for your travels this weekend and afterward. Break on Track Work Metrorail has curtailed its weekend track work program through April 12-13. The break should be especially pleasing to Red Line riders, who have endured several months of extensive delays. But it's also well-timed for the many events and the heavy travel period coming up in early spring. Parking Tight at National If you're hoping to park at Reagan National Airport this Easter weekend, check the airport Web site for up to date information on space availablity. You can also call 703-417-7275 for an update. Metro is a good choice for National. Here's a link to Metro's Trip Planner, so you can see how long the ride will take. Rock Creek Parkway Lane Closed The right southbound lane on the Rock Creek Parkway will remain closed for about two more weeks...
By | March 23, 2008; 11:30 AM ET | Comments (2)
Peeps Take the Metro to the New Ballpark
Those wacky Metro employees. They released a video on You Tube that follows three peeps as they try to make their way to the new Nationals Park. It's not great cinematography, but you will likely find yourself chuckling throughout -- if only because it's so bad, it's good. The Reliable Source spoke to WMATA public relations director Lisa Farbstein about the story behind the video yesterday (second item). Check out the video below and let us know your thoughts on "Peeps in the Park."...
By Amy L. Kovac | March 21, 2008; 9:13 AM ET | Comments (39)
VDOT Commissioner Faults Ice Storm Response
David Ekern, commissioner of the Virginia Department of Transportation, summed up the department's response to the Feb. 12 ice storm this way: "When you look at the critical 45 minutes, we got overwhelmed." He was talking about the time between 3 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. when the Springfield Interchange's roadways and bridges began to freeze -- and so did VDOT. -- The road treatment equipment wasn't where it needed to be when weather conditions began to deteriorate rapidly. -- VDOT's Traffic Management Center in Northern Virginia failed to activate the message boards to warn drivers that the interchange had become impassable. -- The 511 phone information system was not engaged. VDOT's Web site was not used to alert people who had not yet left home or work. -- The Traffic Management Center did not contact the emergency operations center in Richmond or other regional traffic management centers to coordinate public...
By | March 20, 2008; 2:29 PM ET | Comments (4)
VDOT Releases Report on Ice Storm Response
These are some of the findings from the Virginia Department of Transportation review released this afternoon regarding its inadequate response to the ice storm that choked the Springfield Interchange for more than seven hours on the afternoon and evening of Feb. 12. I'll follow up on this with you later this afternoon. Forecast Off The Transportation Emergency Operations Center in Richmond (TEOC) and the NOVA district maintenance management and staff had several sources of weather data available prior to and during the event. The main source of forecast data was the National Weather Service (NWS). VDOT also has a contract with a private meteorological company to give more discrete weather forecasts than those provided by the NWS. This service did not forecast the ice storm for the Northern Virginia region. Lack of Road Data Supplemental data on pavement temperatures were available from Vaisala Corporation, a private service employed by VDOT...
By | March 20, 2008; 1:17 PM ET | Email a Comment
Traffic, Transit Advisories
Couple of advisories today for drivers and transit users. March Madness and Metro The NCAA games at Verizon Center are scheduled to start at 12:20 p.m. and will continue well into tonight. (Here's a link to Verizon Center's directions page.) The center sits atop Gallery Place Station, which is a junction of three Metro lines, the Red, Green and Yellow. For the games that end in the off-peak afternoon and night time hours, Metro will put on extra trains to help with the crowds. And for the late game, Metro will stay open till 1 a.m. Gallery Place has three entrances, but if you're traveling on the Red Line, it's just a couple of blocks west to Metro Center Station on G Street NW and a couple of blocks east to Judiciary Square Station on F Street NW. Road Work in Tysons A left turn lane on Route 7 East...
By | March 20, 2008; 5:37 AM ET | Comments (1)
Traffic Delays in Downtown DC
The District Department of Transportation has issued a traffic alert for the afternoon and evening: "Mobile protests that began early this morning are expected to last into and beyond the evening rush hour. Large and small groups of demonstrators are continuing to intermittently block intersections along K Street between 13th and 17 th Streets, NW. "Delays and detours are expected. Motorists are advised to avoid the area." The protests against the Iraq war are described in a story on our Web site....
By | March 19, 2008; 4:22 PM ET | Comments (15)
Triple Trouble For DC Traffic?
Let's see how big this city really is: Three events are scheduled for Saturday, March 29, and they all contain the word "National." While they're still a week and a half away, you'll probably see why there's some value in beginning to plan. A traffic magnet in bloom. (Thomson) Here are the elements of the Traffic Trifecta. The National Marathon and Half Marathon. The starting time is 7 a.m. and the finish time is 1:30 p.m. Last year, many people enjoyed having this run in the nation's capital, but it left thousands trapped in traffic. It takes place on a Saturday, which is not a light day for local travel, and it crosses through six of the city's eight wards in two big loops. The course begins and ends at RFK Stadium. Look for signs marking the race route. That's where you'll experience temporary street closures that not only will...
By | March 19, 2008; 6:43 AM ET | Comments (16)
Metro Open Late for NCAA Thursday
Metrorail is going to stay open till 1 o'clock Friday morning to accommodate the Verizon Center crowds attending the Thursday night NCAA basketball games at Verizon Center. The normal closing time on weeknights is midnight. Also, there will be extra train after the first, third and fourth games on Thursday and both games on Saturday to help with crowds on the Red, Green and Yellow lines. Verizon Center sits on top of Gallery Place Station, where those three lines intersect. There are four games on Thursday, starting at 12:20 p.m. So Metro is suggesting that commuters who work around Gallery place avoid the worst crowding by using the station entrances at 9th and G streets NW or 7th and H streets NW. Or, go over to Judiciary Square Station at 5th and F streets NW. When you're using Metro to attend any big event, it's best to buy a round...
By | March 18, 2008; 2:51 PM ET | Comments (5)
Metro to Cut Back Weekend Maintenance
Metro plans to curtail its repair and testing projects for the next four weekends, giving riders a reprieve from recent service delays that have lasted up to 30 minutes. In a press release on its website, Metro announced suspension of track work on March 22 to 23, March 29 to 30, April 5 to 6 and April 12 to 13. The break in track work will coincide with the Cherry Blossom Festival, opening weekend of the Washington Nationals, the National Marathon and other mainstays of Washington's busy tourist season....
By Liz Heron | March 18, 2008; 1:49 PM ET | Comments (7)
MD Senate Passes Camera Bill
The bill to allow local governments throughout Maryland to use speed cameras passed the state Senate today by a vote of 26 to 21. The measure, which also allows the state to set up the cameras in road work zones, must also pass the House of Delegates. Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) backs the proposal. In the Senate, it's SB 269; and in the House, it's HB 364. Senators amended their bill twice. One amendment reduced the proposed fines from $75 to $40, which matches the amount of the fine in the Montgomery County pilot program, which began last May. The other amendment exempts volunteer rescue workers who are acting in the line of duty when they pass through a camera zone. The House also amended its bill to set the fine at $40....
By | March 18, 2008; 11:36 AM ET | Comments (6)
How Do You Want to Pay?
Two stories in today's Post focused on the future of our transportation system. The U.S. Department of Transportation has encouraged some efforts to take the system private -- or at least push it in that direction. Lyndsey Layton and Spencer S. Hsu explored the federal effort to encourage states and private companies to let the market dictate which segments of the transportation network will be improved. Eric M. Weiss describes several scenarios that are part of a regional review of road tolling options. These ideas and more are contained in the report to Congress by the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Commission, which proposed a new way of looking at our needs in the 21st century. There are two main theories behind the tolling concept: In one scenario, market forces, rather than government, dictate where roads will be built or improved. Private companies will build or manage roads --...
By | March 17, 2008; 10:37 AM ET | Comments (21)
Hybrids Stay in HOV Lanes
The Virginia Department of Transportation reminds us this morning that the law allowing hybrids to travel in the carpool lanes has been extended for one year until July 2009. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) signed House Bill 1014 last week. The exemption had been scheduled to expire on July 1, but as in past years, the Virginia General Assembly voted for a one-year extension. (There's no such program in Maryland.) Letting hybrids with solo drivers into the carpool lanes may have been a good idea back in the days when hybrids were new and the government sought to encourage ownership of fuel-efficient vehicles. Today, it's just an entitlement that allows people to drive by themselves in lanes built for carpoolers. Hybrids that don't meet the HOV lane rules for occupancy can be used in the lanes on I-95/395 and I-66, but the rules are significantly different on those two highways....
By | March 17, 2008; 9:31 AM ET | Comments (5)
Traffic Alert For RC Parkway
It's back. I'm not talking about spring. It's time for a new lane closure on the Rock Creek Parkway. The National Park Service today will close the right southbound lane at all hours for about three weeks. This is between P Street NW and Pennsylvania Avenue, the work zone that became infamous with commuters last year. Three travel lanes will remain open, the park service says. The P Street ramps will remain open, the park service says. The Federal Highway Administration, which is doing the year long parkway repair project in conjunction with the park service, has a Web page that describes the work....
By | March 17, 2008; 5:39 AM ET | Email a Comment
The Weekend and Beyond
Here are some transportation tidbits for your planning and perspective. Metro Weekends This should be the last weekend that Red Line riders will be vexed by the switch replacement project at Van Ness. It starts at 9 p.m. Friday and midnight Sunday, when the system closes. You can get all the details on this page at Metro's Web site, but the basic idea is that Metro is advising riders to add at least a half hour to their normal travel times. One of our regular commenters, Woodley Park, made this astute observation about the weekend delays: "It's the weekend before St. Patrick's Day, and next Saturday night will be a HUGE party night. Lots of revelers will be heading to DuPont and Adams Morgan (via Woodley Park Station) on the Red Line, and if you thought these past 3 weekends had bad crowding, I challenge you to try the Red...
By | March 14, 2008; 5:50 PM ET | Comments (3)
16th Street NW Reopened
Announcement from the District Department of Transportation this afternoon about the Mount Pleasant fire zone: DDOT announces that all lanes have been reopened on 16th Street, NW following a complete closure earlier in the day due to a 5-alarm fire in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood. Traffic will resume its normal flow....
By | March 13, 2008; 4:38 PM ET | Comments (3)
14th Street NW Blocked
Because of a utility emergency, 14th Street NW is blocked between Euclid and Chapin Streets and is likely to remain closed into the evening. That will affect many commuters heading north from downtown Washington. D.C. police and the District Department of Transportation have set up detours in the area, a block east of Meridian Hill Park, and it's likely to be very congested for the afternoon rush. The alternative north-south routes include 13th Street NW, 15th Street NW (which is one-way northbound) or 16th Street NW. East-west traffic can use U Street NW, V Street NW (which is one-way westbound), W Street NW (which is one-way eastbound), Girard Street NW or Columbia Road NW....
By | March 11, 2008; 1:08 PM ET | Comments (2)
Traffic, Transit Advisories
Here are some issues you may have to deal with on the roads and rails during the rest of this week. Westbound I-66 at Route 29, Gainesville On Wednesday, from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., ramp 43A southbound to Route 29 will be closed to allow the I-66 widening project to remove the steel girders of the ramp's deck. Interstate traffic will use exit 43B to northbound Route 29, then bear left on the ramp to reach southbound Route 29. This pattern will not affect traffic northbound onto Route 29. Route 29 South, Gainesville On Thursday, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Route 29 South from Larapinta Court to Wellington Branch Drive will be closed to allow the widening project to lift and remove the structural steel beams off the old bridge over Route 29. The two Route 29 northbound lanes will be converted into a two-lane undivided highway configuration...
By | March 11, 2008; 5:29 AM ET | Comments (4)
I-395 Detour Tonight
The ramp from northbound Interstate 395 (the Southeast-Southwest Freeway) onto South Capitol Street is scheduled to be closed from 8 p.m. Monday to 4:30 a.m. Tuesday so highway workers can install overhead signs directing traffic to the new Nationals baseball stadium. Watch for the detour signs. Once the baseball seasons starts on Sunday, March 30, this is likely to be a highly congested area on game nights, as fans mix in with normal rush hour traffic. The first night game is Monday, April 7....
By | March 10, 2008; 6:31 PM ET | Email a Comment
One Weekend To Go on Red Line
Readers continue to complain about the impact of the Red Line track work at Van Ness that has gone on for three weekends and has one more to go. The complaints weren't so much about the delays -- perhaps by now riders were taking the 30-minute delays as a given -- but rather about the information available, especially the announcements. Here's an example. Dear Dr. Gridlock: To add to the weekend confusion on the Red Line, the announcements on the platforms are totally incomprehensible. I hope the repairs will be over shortly because the incoming tourists will be even more lost than usual if they continue. A stranger would have no idea what's going on. I don't myself. I live at the UDC stop and usually use the subway on the weekend to go downtown. I have given up. Too much time gets wasted factoring in extra half hours before...
By | March 10, 2008; 9:10 AM ET | Comments (10)
Renewed Focus on Safety
The region's transportation and law enforcement officials are about to launch their 2008 Street Smart campaign for pedestrian safety. It's both an educational and enforcement effort, directed at pedestrians and bikers as well as motorists. The campaign, which began in 2002, responds to these sad facts: On average in our region, about six pedestrians are injured each day, and a pedestrian is killed every 4.4 days. Pedestrians account for a quarter of traffic fatalities What's your pedestrian safety tip? Many safety improvements are visible on our roads, including better crosswalks and traffic calming methods. But here's a letter I got from a reader illustrating things we can do to protect ourselves, without waiting for the government or the police to take action on our behalf. Dear Dr. Gridlock: When it is dark or during inclement weather, it is quite an achievement that the Metro bus drivers are able to simultaneously...
By | March 5, 2008; 6:16 AM ET | Comments (19)
Va. Transportation Taxes Halted Today
Because of last week's decision by the Virginia Supreme Court, the state and the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority will stop collecting the transportation taxes and fees that took effect in January under the plan passed last year by the General Assembly. The authority is working on a plan for refunds on the taxes already collected, but doesn't have anything to announce on that yet. None of the money collected has been spent. In fact, the authority has a very small staff at this point and asks people to hold off on calling its office, because it can't answer individual questions over the phone and really doesn't have anything to add at the moment. Friday's court ruling said the legislature did not have the right under Virginia's constitution to grant taxing powers to the transportation authority. The ruling did not void the authority itself, which was created under separate state legislation...
By | March 4, 2008; 12:06 PM ET | Comments (4)
Updates on MD Bridge Projects
The Maryland State Highway Administration sent along this information about the longterm bridge replacement project on Kenilworth Avenue at Route 50 in Prince George's after noticing a reader had asked for an update. Replacement of the parallel bridges, which began in late-summer 2006, is now more than half done and should be completed by next winter. Traffic switched to the bridge that has been completed in December, and workers are now demolishing the other bridge. Meanwhile, they are doing some pile driving and concrete work this month on the replacement structure. During the summer, SHA says, concrete will be poured for a new bridge deck. All during construction, three lanes in each direction of Kenilworth stay open, but watch for lane closures between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. This is a major traffic junction -- two heavily traveled commuter routes -- and the going is rough through...
By | March 4, 2008; 5:40 AM ET | Email a Comment
Parkway Bridge Update
Since the big reconstruction project started in January on the George Washington Parkway's Humpback Bridge, I haven't heard many complaints from drivers, bikers or walkers. And I hope that means that the work so far has not caused much difficulty. This week's activity: On the southbound side, the right lane is closed from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Lane closures are never permitted during the peak periods, though just the presence of such a project is likely to cause slowdowns during times when the traffic volume is high. This project is still just getting underway, and isn't scheduled to be finished till spring 2010. Each week, the Federal Highway Administration, which is doing the job in conjunction with the National Park Service, posts an update on its Humpback Bridge page. You can find more details about the project and its goals on this page. Right now, the...
By | March 3, 2008; 1:46 PM ET | Comments (2)
