Get There Archive: Driving
D.C. transportation chief's chat is illuminating
Entrepreneur-turned-District transportation czar Gabe Klein opined on everything from bike sharing to streetcars during an hour-long online chat Friday, the first in a monthly series of chats he plans on transportation topics. Klein took questions and requests from the public for more than an hour. Some people wanted more tree boxes on public sidewalks; others complained about unrepaired utility cuts; another asked when streetscape improvements to Pennsylvania Avenue SE would start (within the next month). It's clear that Klein has a host of innovative projects on his plate to enhance biking, parking and walking and to get traffic moving faster in the city. Funding and bureaucracy could slow some big projects, like the ambitious network of eight streetcar lines the Fenty administration envisions covering 37 miles along K Street through downtown, H Street and Benning Road, Georgia Avenue/14th Street/Seventh Street, and Rhode Island Avenue/U Street. For a text of...
By
Gene Fynes
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November 20, 2009; 3:02 PM ET |
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Categories:
Biking
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Commuting
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Congestion
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Construction
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Driving
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Transportation Politics
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transit
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Today's read: radio traffic guru's 30th anniversary
Bob Marbourg steers listeners through traffic: Despite all the hardware, Marbourg will tell you that the greatest recent advance in traffic reporting is the cellphone. He has a network of dozens, maybe hundreds -- he's never really counted -- of commuters who phone in real-time tips about delays, accidents and the like. (Paul Farhi) Marbourg's desk has banks of scanners and traffic camera displays. That's all backup. He spends the 10 minutes between traffic reports listening to drivers calling in from the roads. When he starts his report, he doesn't read from notes. He's got this road network in his mind. Marbourg says he knows more about the current condition of traffic from sitting in his studio and taking drivers' calls than he would have in the days when he was flying over the roads. On Marbourg's station, WTOP, Adam Tuss has been doing a series of reports marking his...
By
Robert Thomson
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November 20, 2009; 8:43 AM ET |
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Categories:
Driving
| Tags: Bob Marbourg, Dr. Gridlock, Today's Read
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Va. Beltway traffic shift this weekend
The transportation project having the biggest impact on travelers this fall is the HOT lanes construction along the western side of the Beltway in Virginia. This is so despite the fact that through lanes are not blocked during peak travel periods. Here's the latest advisory from the Virginia Department of Transportation: Beginning Friday night, northbound and southbound traffic on the Capital Beltway will shift left approaching the Arlington Boulevard (Route 50) interchange. Beltway lanes in this area will narrow so workers can safely demolish and rebuild parts of the roadway and the bridges over Route 50. This traffic pattern will remain for 12 to 18 months. Work schedule On Friday night, all lanes on the inner loop (I-495 North) will be closed by 11 p.m. Drivers will be directed to the exit ramp lanes for Route 50. They will continue through the ramp lanes to get back onto I-495 North....
By
Robert Thomson
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November 19, 2009; 9:00 AM ET |
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Categories:
Construction
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Driving
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Weekend Work
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highways
| Tags: Capital Beltway, Dr. Gridlock, HOT lanes
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A commute home, captured on camera
See if you can pick out which roads our driver takes in the video submission we received response to my previous posting, called Your traffic and transit nightmares. I missed the first road and the last road. Should have gotten them all. They're not obscure roads. The driver's route is speeded up on the video -- at least I hope so. So it does take a while to pick out the landmarks along the way, as well as the road characteristics. There's a full list of the roads at the end of the video. (Good choice of music to commute by, too.) Tell me what else they illustrate about driving in the Washington region, and consider submitting your own travel nightmares via video as well. I couldn't help but tense up every time the driver had to stop, either because the highway lane had come to a halt or because...
By
Robert Thomson
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November 18, 2009; 3:52 PM ET |
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Categories:
Driving
| Tags: Dr. Gridlock, YouTube, user video
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Rail project work scheduled for I-66
The Dulles Metrorail project has scheduled some nighttime work along I-66, starting Friday, but will pull the plug on construction for a few days over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Here's the schedule. All work will occur between 9:30 p.m. and 5 a.m. unless it says otherwise. Westbound I-66 -- Friday night into Saturday morning, workers will close the middle and right through lanes for restriping. When those lanes reopen, the left lane will close. The work should be done by 9 a.m. Saturday. -- The left through lane of westbound I-66 will close again overnights starting as early as Sunday. The work -- concrete barrier placement -- is to be finished by overnight Tuesday. Dulles Connector Road (Route 267) flyover to I-66 -- The right through lane of the eastbound Dulles Connector Road flyover will close for barrier placement as early as Sunday night, and then again on Monday night....
By
Robert Thomson
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November 18, 2009; 10:00 AM ET |
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Categories:
Congestion
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Construction
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Driving
| Tags: Dr. Gridlock, Dulles Rail
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Public Meeting Tonight on NY Ave Projects
The District Department of Transportation plans to hold a public meeting about the upcoming string of projects that will slow travel on New York Avenue NE. (See our Commuter page feature on their impact or see the DDOT Web site, www.fixingnewyorkave.com.) The session, where you will be able to comment on the plans as well as learn about how they will affect you, is scheduled for 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the McKinley Technology High School Auditorium, 151 T Street NE. There's parking at McKinley. The closest Metro station is New York Avenue, on the Red Line....
By
Robert Thomson
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November 18, 2009; 9:00 AM ET |
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Categories:
Congestion
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Construction
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Driving
| Tags: Dr. Gridlock, New York Avenue
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