Normally courteous drivers are being forced to either aggressively block intersections or never arrive at their destination.
Do you have a solution for this growing problem?
Diane Puckett
Manassas
Where that situation exists, the Virginia Department of Transportation should post signs prohibiting right turns during rush hours. The hours should be posted on the sign.
You can nominate an intersection by calling 703-383-VDOT.
Bless you for not blocking intersections, as so many do in that situation.
Development's Impact
Dear Dr. Gridlock:
In a response to a reader's concern over a "huge" residential development proposed next to Interstate 66 and the Vienna Metro station ("A Development March Toward Jammed Roads," Dr. Gridlock, Aug. 26) you demonstrated -- pardon the pun -- tunnel vision that is shared by so many residents of the D.C. area.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors does have a vision, and it is spelled out in the Comprehensive Plan. What neither you nor your reader noted was the change in types of development.
The I-66 and Dulles Toll Road areas have predominantly been developed as isolated office parks. Workers have had to commute from other residential areas to reach jobs there and in the District. Every worker had to get into his car and drive somewhere else for lunch, shopping, daily errands -- further clogging those roads.
Wouldn't it be nice if those areas were more lively after 5 p.m.? Perhaps some workers would remain for dinner or a movie -- delaying their commutes home and thereby reducing the number of cars on those roads at rush hour.
Some option for employees to live where they work might also be offered. Mixed-use development as proposed by the county provides alternatives.
The biggest flaw in your response to the reader was your failure to mention that this development is within easy walking distance of a Metro station, and you didn't note Metro as an alternative mode of transportation to I-66.
Maybe people who seek this type of housing do so because of its proximity to mass transit. Perhaps the county supervisors have this in mind.
Unfortunately, there is the old chicken-and-egg problem. You can't build the extension to the Metro system without the density (too expensive to support), but with timing and strong leadership, a more extensive mass transit system could be developed to alleviate the congestion.
Melissa Tompkins
McLean
Perhaps that is something the county should have implemented 20 years ago, when the additional Metrorail riders could have resulted in the Orange Line becoming the top priority for new cars now being phased in by Metro.
I wonder how current Orange Line riders would feel about adding thousands of commuters to their already-cramped cars.
I-66 inside the Beltway is already limited to HOV-2 during morning rush hours, and Metrorail is standing room only. That leaves the secondary roads, such as Route 50 and Route 29, for the solitary commuter. Can those roads absorb thousands more vehicles?
One possible option -- working at home or at nearby satellite-office rentals -- offers hope but has little to do with population density.
That's my opinion. Here's more:
