Get There: March 29, 2009 - April 4, 2009
The Weekend and Beyond
Here are some suggestions for your weekend voyages, and some transportation issues that will come up in the rest of April. Cherry Blossom Parade The parade starts Saturday at 9:45 a.m. on Constitution Avenue NW north of the Mall. See the previous entry where I listed the street closings and parking restrictions that begin tonight. Metro will have to reroute some buses and delays are likely. These are the routes: The parade will affect the following Metrobus routes: 5A, 13, 32, 34, 36, 52, 54, 64, 70, 80, P6, S2, S4 and V8. The transit authority says it hopes to restore normal service by 2 p.m. Three Sports Events Saturday As if the Cherry Blossom Festival weren't enough to draw a crowd, we'll have three games in Washington on Saturday night: Wizards at Verizon Center, DC United at RFK Stadium and Nationals at Nationals Park. Metro says it will put...
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Robert Thomson
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April 3, 2009; 9:35 AM ET |
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Streets Closing For Cherry Blossom Parade
Here are the specifics you've been asking for on the Saturday street closings in DC. From 11 p.m. today to 9 p.m. Saturday, these downtown streets will be closed to vehicles: * Pennsylvania Avenue between 10th and 14th streets NW * Streets from the north and south that intersect Pennsylvania Avenue between 10th and 14th streets NW Downtown parking restrictions during the same hours: Vehicles will not be allowed to park along Pennsylvania Avenue NW between 10th and 14th streets NW. Parade route closures: The parade will go westbound on Constitution Avenue NW from 7th Street to 17th Street, starting at 9:45 a.m. Saturday. These streets will be closed to vehicles from 5:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday: * 7th Street between Independence Avenue SW and Constitution Avenue NW * Constitution Avenue between 6th Street and 23rd Street NW No parking from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. on these streets:...
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Robert Thomson
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April 2, 2009; 2:40 PM ET |
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New Circulator Bus Gets Attention
This must be what the sponsors mean by branding and marketing: Along Columbia Road in Adams Morgan, people look over and stare as a new D.C. Circulator bus rolls by. The long-observed red, white and blue Metrobuses may blend into the street scene, but the red, black and silver Circulator is something different here, and it stands out. The route connecting Woodley Park Station, Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights, 14th and U Streets and McPherson Square Station should work on several levels. As a transportation artery, it can move people between Metrorail lines, other bus routes, residential areas, business districts and entertainment zones. "Get out of your cars!" D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty told people at the line's formal debut Wednesday morning in Adams Morgan. But he then tied the new service to upcoming development in many of the neighborhoods it crosses, which is the second promise of the bus route. It's...
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Robert Thomson
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April 2, 2009; 8:05 AM ET |
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Alexandria Considering DASH Bus Cuts
And who isn't these days? We've already talked about Metrobus, Ride On in Montgomery County and Fairfax Connector. This is what DASH may do in July. * Eliminate weekday midday, Saturday and Sunday service on the AT3-4 between the Braddock Road Metro station and City Hall and Hunting Towers. * Eliminate weekday midday and Saturday service on the AT4 * Eliminate service to the Lee Center. No service on South Royal, Gibbon and Franklin streets, or on South Payne, Jefferson and South Fayette except during the weekday peak period on the AT7. * Service between Slaters Lane and Braddock Road Metro station would be provided by an extension of the AT2 during off-peak periods. * Eliminate weekday midday, Saturday and Sunday service on the AT2 between the King Street and Braddock Road Metro stations. * Service between Bashford Lane and Braddock Road Station would be provided by an extension of...
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Robert Thomson
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April 1, 2009; 11:07 AM ET |
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Dulles Toll Rd. Accident Cleared
The accident that bloked lanes on westbound Route 267 after the main toll plaza has been cleared. Road Essentials: Incident Map | Traffic Cams | Key Routes...
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Washington Post Editors
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April 1, 2009; 10:55 AM ET |
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Metro to Hold Six Hearings on Budget and Service
There will be six chances in April for transit users to say what they think about the ways Metro plans to balance the transit budget that starts in July: the bus service cuts and the fare increases on certain routes. The first hearing, in Hyattsville, may prove to be the most interesting, since Prince George's County has a rather long list of bus routes that could be affected by the service cuts. (These are Maryland's choices. Metro didn't target Prince George's, or Montgomery. Other jurisdictions offset the cuts by coming up with more money to finance the transit system.) I plan to review the proposed cuts and fee increases on Sunday's Commuter page in The Post. Meanwhile, here's the schedule of hearings, all of which will begin at 6:30 p.m. * Monday, April 13, at First United Methodist Church, Fellowship Hall, 6201 Belcrest Road in Hyattsville. * Monday, April 13,...
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Robert Thomson
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April 1, 2009; 8:48 AM ET |
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Metro's Track Work Schedule for April
Thank those cherry blossom tourists. They're giving us three straight weekends without major track work to delay travel on Metrorail. Last weekend was the first of the three. Track work also is suspended for this coming weekend and for April 11-12. Then it gets busy again. Friday, April 17, to Sunday, April 19 Red Line: Add at least half an hour to a trip between Judiciary Square and Rhode Island Avenue. Metro is replacing a switch in the Brentwood rail yard, south of Rhode Island Avenue. Trains will share one track around the work zone from 10 p.m., April 17 to midnight April 19. Orange Line: Add at least a half hour to travel time between Vienna and West Falls Church. Metro will be replacing crossties, so trains will share a track around the work area from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, April 18. Every other train in the...
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Robert Thomson
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April 1, 2009; 6:21 AM ET |
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Commuter Alert: Traffic Lights Out Along Mall
8:30 p.m.: Most of the dark traffic lights that shut down the evening commute in central Washington have been restored, but two are still out. They are at 15th Street and Jefferson Drive SW and 14th and Maine SW. The District Department of Transportation says it set up portable generators to power the others at intersections on the north side of the Mall that were affected by the power outage this afternoon. DDOT said that Pepco is working on the power problem. Meanwhile, DDOT traffic control officers were working with D.C. and park police at the congested intersections. Traffic is still heavy in the area and it's best to avoid the zone if at all possible. Commuters bound from downtown Washington to Virginia were having a ghastly ride after the signal lights went out in the late afternoon. The power problem led to delays heading toward the 14th Street, Memorial...
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Robert Thomson
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March 31, 2009; 4:04 PM ET |
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Route 15 Detour in Loudoun Starts Friday
The Virginia Department of Transportation is engaged in an ambitious safety project along a 20-mile stretch on the western side of the Washington suburbs where traffic has been building. The traffic-calming program along the Route 50 corridor in Fauquier and Loudoun counties includes construction of four roundabouts at Gilbert's Corner. Many planners consider roundabouts, with their central islands and traffic-circulating lanes, to be more efficient and safer than standard intersections with traffic lights or stop signs. (And yes, they are trying to slow down traffic.) Construction of the roundabouts at Gilbert's Corner, west of Dulles Airport, are an effort to improve safety and slow traffic along Routes 50 and 15. The four are being built at the Route 50/15 junction, Route 50 and Watson Road and both ends of recently built Howsers Branch Drive. VDOT says the link that Howsers Branch Drive has created between Routes 50 and 15 will...
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Robert Thomson
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March 31, 2009; 1:43 PM ET |
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Western Ave. Reopens After Gas Leak
Update, 1:56 p.m.: All lanes have been reopened at Military Rd. and Western Ave. NW. Original post, 11:05 a.m.:Western Ave. NW is closed between Military Rd. NW and Wisconsin Ave. because of a gas leak. Road Essentials: Incident Map | Traffic Cams | Key Routes...
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Mike McPhate
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March 31, 2009; 11:05 AM ET |
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On Time on the S9
I wish I could bottle the ride I just had to share with all Metrobus passengers. It was a smooth, on time trip up 16th Street NW on the new S9 bus, with plenty of seats and no one standing. The bus driver had to be vocal: "S9 -- limited stops!" he would shout to passengers waiting at the curb. "Where?" one woman responded. Whenever someone would pull the cord and "Stop Requested" would light up at the front of the bus, the driver would call out to make clear hat the next stop was. As we sailed up 16th Street in relatively light rush hour traffic, some people waiting at the bus shelters would peer quizzically -- or perhaps wistfully -- at the passing S9, which makes just 16 stops between McPherson Square and Silver Spring, compared to the 82 stops for the other S route buses between Federal...
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Robert Thomson
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March 30, 2009; 6:08 PM ET |
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Metro Detours Md. Bus Route After Crash
Dear Dr. Gridlock: Without any notice or hearings, Metro has suddenly rerouted the heavily traveled F4 bus through Riverdale. This no doubt is a knee-jerk reaction from the bus-train accident the other night. This severs an intermodal connection between this East-West corridor and the MARC Camden Line, which must be increasingly relied upon by travelers and commuters as our communities and country face up the the futility of relying mainly on automobiles and the gridlock and oil dependency engendered by that ill-destined policy. Even when the common sense Purple Line is finally operational, the F4 will remain a complementing service. Service on the Camden Line needs to be expanded to all-day and weekend service anyway (with public funding assisting the privately-owned CSX freight line and no detrimental effects on their business). Many people have moved to Riverdale Park to take advantage of near-town public transportation and the area is ripe...
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Robert Thomson
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March 30, 2009; 3:35 PM ET |
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Where's the Bus?
Join me at 1 p.m. for an online discussion where, among other things, you can make fun of me for not being able to track down one of the new S9 buses this morning. I started out in Silver Spring at about 8 a.m., thinking that the "Silver Spring station" stop for the new limited stop service would be at the same place where the other S buses start and stop. Nope. It's a couple of blocks away, in front of the Lenox apartments, on Colesville Road westbound near East-West Highway. But neither I nor a very friendly and helpful Metro supervisor in downtown Silver Spring could figure that out at the time, so he suggested I get on one of the S buses, the locals down 16th Street. I decided to stay on the S4 till I reached Irving Street in Mount Pleasant. There, I found another helpful supervisor...
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Robert Thomson
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March 30, 2009; 11:40 AM ET |
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Red Line Track Fixed
The tracks near Bethesda have been repaired following Friday's two derailments, but there were some other problems with the early morning commute. As of 6:30 a.m., Metro says, all the escalators and the street elevator on the 19th Street side of the Dupont Circle Station are out of service. Meanwhile, a disruption on the Blue and Orange Lines has been cleared. Early this morning, there were delays because of some emergency track maintenance. Here's a link to the page on Metro's Web site that updates the status of all delays....
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Robert Thomson
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March 30, 2009; 6:40 AM ET |
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New Buses in D.C. Today
If you wait for buses at Silver Spring Station, McPherson Square, or in between along 16th Street NW, you're going to see something new today. This morning marks the debut of the S9 bus. It's not only a new route but a new concept for that corridor. It's even a new type of bus. This is the product of a Metro study that included a lot of talking to bus riders about their frustrations with the 16th Street Line and what they thought could be done to make it better. The 16th Street Line is one of the busiest in the Metrobus system. It also runs along way through congested parts of the District. So it experiences all the problems associated with those factors: The buses can't stick to their schedules and when they do arrive, they tend to arrive in bunches. They also are very crowded. The S9 was...
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Robert Thomson
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March 30, 2009; 6:00 AM ET |
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