If You Could Do One Thing . . .

By Robert Thomson
Sunday, January 7, 2007

D ear Dr. Gridlock:

Many readers (including me) have lamented in this column the lack of interest by the Anthony A. Williams administration in bettering the traffic and parking problems that plague the District. Now that a new mayor is taking office, why don't you ask your readers what one thing they would like to see Adrian Fenty do to help our traffic problems?

I'd vote for strict -- or any -- enforcement of cars illegally parked in bus or turn lanes. I live in North Dupont, and I see traffic regularly backed up because of a single parked car blocking the right-turn lane at 18th and U streets NW.

Todd Shears

District

Let's expand the question. As we start the new year, what should be the transportation priorities for the District, Maryland and Virginia?

New administrations are taking over in the District and Maryland, where Martin O'Malley will be sworn in as governor Jan. 17. Transportation issues did not loom large in the mayor's or the governor's elections. That leaves Fenty and O'Malley lots of maneuvering room.

O'Malley could even wiggle out of his campaign-season support for the intercounty connector if he discovered, let's say, that the federal study now under court challenge fails to properly assess environmental concerns.

In Virginia, traffic and transit concerns are at the center of the agenda this year and could play a decisive role in November's legislative elections.

On Thursday, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine told a receptive audience of Northern Virginia business and civic leaders about his three goals: Make the state transportation department more efficient and accountable, raise revenue by increasing taxes directly related to travel and further link the planning for development and new transportation services.

Let's not forget the stateless entity known as Metro, which will have a new leader this month when John B. Catoe Jr. takes over as the transit authority's first permanent general manager in a year.

Not exactly a soft landing for Catoe: His immediate challenge will be to balance the budget while minimizing the proposed fare increases and service cuts.

These are my suggestions for the leaders: Let the Whitehurst Freeway stand, expand the District's traffic control force to ease rush hours, make congestion relief and safety the top criteria for approving any new transportation project, buy more buses and keep the weekend Metrorail hours.

What do you want to tell these guys?

Interchange Issue

A reader asked this question about a common design for highway interchanges:

Dear Dr. Gridlock:

I drive every morning north on River Road from the District to get on the Beltway to Tysons Corner. Every morning, I wait to enter the Capital Beltway.

Why are so many entrances to our highways situated immediately before the exit from the same road, guaranteeing that there will be a constant dance of people exiting in front of the people trying to enter? Is there an engineering value to this arrangement?

Mary McComb

District

What's your least favorite interchange in our region and why?

My most thrilling moments on the Beltway are the seconds spent trying to anticipate what my fellow drivers are going to do while maneuvering on and off the ramps at such places as University Boulevard.

Chuck Gischlar, a spokesman for the Maryland State Highway Administration, responded to McComb's question with some engineering information and news about safety improvements:

The cloverleaf interchange design was prevalent in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when the original sections of the Capital Beltway were constructed. The Beltway has experienced significant growth over the past 40-plus years. Volumes along Interstate 495 in the vicinity of Routes 97 and 193 (Georgia Avenue and University Boulevard) exceed 240,000 vehicles per day.

Limited right-of-way and the associated high cost to acquire additional right-of-way for improvements are challenges that prevent major reconstruction of interchanges to remove many of the weaving movements. However, there are some lower-cost options.

SHA will begin a project this spring to improve the weaving conflict at the Beltway and University Boulevard, eliminating the loop ramp along the outer loop to southbound University. A traffic signal will be installed at the bottom of the ramp.

SHA reconstructed the Connecticut Avenue interchange, installed a traffic signal and provided a ramp to the signal. Motorists can then proceed north or south along Connecticut. That project, which cost more than $6 million, eliminated conflict points.

Dr. Gridlock appears Thursday in the Extras and Sunday in the Metro section. You can send e-mails todrgridlock@washpost.com. Include your name, home community and phone numbers.