Today's Washington Post laments Virginia's lack of funding for road repair and expansion. But within the article is this telling nugget:Today's Washington Post laments Virginia's lack of funding for road repair and expansion. But within the article is this telling nugget:
Leesburg resident William Bethke drives the bypass every day to get to a park-and-ride lot in Herndon, where he catches a Fairfax Connector bus for the 20-minute ride to the West Falls Church Metro station and on to his job in Crystal City. In the 3 1/2 years Bethke has been traveling the bypass bottleneck, the trip has gone from 10 or 15 minutes to 20 or 30 minutes.But he doesn't think widening the road will solve its long-term problems.
"Those who now avoid it would then use it, and in three years we'll be back to where we are," he said.
Adding lanes just kicks the can down the road a few years until the wider road fills up. Nowhere in the article is talk of increased funding to promote, facilitate or incentivize carpooling and telecommuting. And if we can't come up with a few million to expand and interchange how are we going to fund the billions it will take to build Metro's Silver Line and maintain the current system?
Big picture? Traffic is the symptom. Living wicked far from where we work is the disease. Anyone out there got any ideas on how to cure for that?
BOSTONIAN #1: Did you see how fah Big Papi hit that homah?You can take The Green Miles out of Beantown, but you can't take the Beantown out of The Green Miles.BOSTONIAN #2: WICKED FAHHH!
Feel free to make jokes about how the traffic wasn't bad enough in Boston so The Green Miles decided to move to Northern Virginia. No, I'm not moving to Atlanta or LA next.
My understanding is that these laws exist so that the Capitol dome stands out in the DC skyline, not for any engineering reason.
But why on earth are developers not permitted to build up 20 stories or so up on Connecticut Ave., or Mass Ave. near AU.
I'm not suggesting huge scale projects here, and I realize the District's zoning laws go a long way towards making the District more livable and human in scale when compared to, say, New York or Chicago.
But if the traffic problem cannot be resolved in any economic way, the answer to me seems to be building more housing close-in, but to do it in a selective and intelligent way.
Back to reality...
Its going to take a mix of things
Bacons Rebellion is the king on this issue but briefly
What we need is more places for people to work. Look at all of the unused road and metro capacity going the opposite direction from where most of us are going during rush periods.
Light synchronization is another big issue that is still being ignored in many locations
Smarter more cost effective measures instead of metro rail are also needed. VRE and Light Rail should be explored along major arteries. Buses should be revisited.
Also we do need more road capacity in select locations. I-66 for starters is a big one. Any road that is congested outside of rush hour is a giant candidate for additonal capacity.
We can't pave our way out of congestion, but we can be smart in how we build and manage our highways. Personally, I think that the Greenway in Loudoun County should be the model. If people want to live out in the exurbs and pay less for their house and pay lower taxes than in Arlington or Fairfax, then they should pay a tax (or toll) for contributing to the traffic in the suburbs. And I'm not talking about quarters here; I'm talking about folding money.
Another solution is that major employers can help relieve congestion. Why does every employee have to commute to a DC, Arlington, or Fairfax office every day? I know several companies in my industry (defense) that have opened satellite operations in places like Woodbridge, Stafford, and Manasas. The employees are happier and more productive and the work gets accomplished just as effectively.
2. Since we no longer live in a farming economy, and DC is not exactly a punch-clock type town, we should encourage off peak scheduling for all workers. It is much easier to travel up 395 into DC at 9:30 than at 8:30.
FYI, most of the Federal government has been on Flex-Time for years. That's why the AM congestion on I-66 starts at 6:30 and last until well after 11, if not all day.
But ask Metro what happens when you try to get people to pay more at peak. The idea was rejected out of hand.