No, it doesn't. But that is what is happening on scores of nights, mostly during evening rush hours. Routes 28 and 29 and I-66 are backed up for miles, well into Fairfax County.
You ask why police can't keep these concertgoers from gridlocking traffic. Maybe it's because so many county police officers work for Nissan Pavilion, spending off-duty hours on traffic control and event security. Do we really think police officers will take action against motorists trying to get to a Nissan event when their off-duty jobs are to get people into the event?
That is precisely why I'm against police taking off-duty jobs with commercial concerns.
You ask why the signage isn't better. I don't know about this case, but the Virginia Department of Transportation tends to do a notoriously poor job of posting adequate, accurate signs.
Make a (very specific) list of what should be posted, and I'll forward it to VDOT.
You say the powers that be need to do something. The powers that be are the same ones who approved this venue in the first place, putting Nissan Pavilion in the middle of weekday evening rush hour traffic without an adequate road system to get concertgoers to their events. Everybody suffers.
These powers are members of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors. They are more the cause of the problem than the solution.
They put the pavilion alongside traffic-choked I-66 while approving thousands of new homes in nearby Gainesville and Bristow, a terrible disservice to poor Prince William (and Fairfax) County commuters who just want to get home.
Maybe an attorney out there should look into getting Nissan Pavilion declared a public nuisance and closed -- a casualty of gridlock.
What do you think?
HOT Lanes, Essentially
Dear Dr. Gridlock:
It is with some amusement that I keep reading debates on whether we should create high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes to help ease traffic congestion in this region.
Despite its overwhelming success in California, I continue to read stories here bemoaning the idea as beneficial only to the rich who can afford the tolls, hence the "Lexus lane" nickname.
I laugh about this because apparently no one has noticed that we essentially have had HOT lanes here for a number of years, and they seem to work pretty well.
Commuting to work daily from Leesburg, I have a choice. I can pay the toll and ride the deserted Dulles Greenway at the 65 mph posted speed limit (actual speeds may vary upward), or I can take Route 7 toward the Beltway for free but sit snarled in traffic all the way while inhaling exhaust fumes and guzzling gas that could easily have paid for the tolls in the first place.
Is this not the same choice the proposed HOT lanes offer? Ride for free in main lanes that are usually full or pay a variable toll to ride in what is likely a lane nearly devoid of traffic?
