Roads and Rails

Do you think Metro has grown unreliable and become downright unpleasant? Or are you happy with your commutes on rail and bus? Does the thought of the intercounty connector (ICC) keep you up at night or does it seem like it's long overdue? And what of the moves by Maryland and Virginia to encourage the private sector to build road projects, such as widening the Capital Beltway?

Washington Post staff writers Eric Weiss and Lena H. Sun were online Monday, Jan. 22, at 11 a.m. ET to answer your questions, feel your pain and share the drama of getting from Point A to Point B.

A transcript follows.

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Lena Sun: Good Morning, this is actually Eric Weiss.

Let's get to your questions after a quiet (ha ha) week in regional transportation...

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Fairfax, Va.: What was up with the roads yesterday? I was driving on Fairfax County Parkway at 1:30 p.m. and again at 4:30 p.m. Traffic was moving 10 mph and there was no sign that any effort had been made to spread salt on the road. I thought most places had trucks out and ready to go before the first snow flakes begin to fall. The road really needed something to help melt the snow and provide traction. It isn't like they spent their entire budget already.

Eric Weiss: Lots of complaints about road plowing issues this a.m.

I wonder if there was less attention paid because the storm came on a weekend and not a business day.

Answers, VDOT, MDOT, DDOT?

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Prince William County, Va.: Giving the cost of the light rail from Dulles to Loudoun, through Tysons Corner, why has no discussion been given to a monorail type system, especially if an elevated rail is going to run through Tysons Corner...

A Washington Post search does not yield any monorail stories; why doesn't The Post write about monorail vs. light rail, since it is 1/3 of the costs.? Monorail has the potential to save millions of dollars, is safer than light rail, and environmentally friendly. And it can be built on existing right-of-ways?

Eric Weiss: The rail extension to Dulles is an expansion of the Metro's Orange Line and would operate as such. Obviously, the equipment has to be compatible, otherwise passengers going to the airport would have to take Metro to West Falls Church Station, schlep all their luggage to a transfer to a monorail or light rail.

Then again, the monorail at Disney World rocks!

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Arlington, Va.: Several local school districts opened late or stayed closed today due to the snow and ice conditions on the roadways? Well, the Right to Lifers seemed to have no trouble getting to town on time this morning. The television media over-play the impact of weather on the roadways because there is nothing else to report about on the weekend. Their hype contributes to the panic. Shame on them. Were local road conditions that bad that Arlington County had to close schools? Cut me a break.

Eric Weiss:

Snow storms are a perfect TV story, you have visuals of kiddies sledding, motorists slipping and sliding and trucks a-plowing.

The Washington Post also occasionally runs small stories on snow storms.

It is also a shared event among everyone in the Washington area, so it affects everyone, that is why the news pays attention.

As for school closings, some of it has to do with the ability of teachers to get to schools, which has to do with storm-delayed traffic, etc.

More to discuss during other snow storms...

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Washington, D.C.: Soon, Metro's board will begin serious consideration of the next fiscal years' budget, which at this point calls for fare increases and other significant changes! Members of the public should pay attention, and get involved, in order to make sure that any fare increase for bus, rail and/or parking is done fair and equitably. Metro's Riders Advisory Council will also be looking into the budget proposal, and welcomes participation from the public at-large.

Eric Weiss: Passing this along...Metro board members are hoping to slice the budget to try and avoid fare increases.

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McPherson Square: Re: elevator outages. I have been noticing lately that the train drivers notify passengers of elevator outages at weird times. For example, on the way to work last week, the train had just pulled away from Foggy Bottom when the train driver announced that the elevator was out at Farragut West, but there are shuttle services at McPherson Square. Wouldn't it make more sense to notify passengers of elevator outages earlier (like at Rosslyn) so that a person could get off the train at Foggy Bottom to catch a shuttle, instead of going past Farragut West to come all the way back?

PS -- The Rosslyn Metro station smelled like the elephant house at the National Zoo this morning.

Eric Weiss: Fair point. You might want to check on elevator outages at the Metro Web site before starting on your trip. I would not recommend relying on the train operator to announce closures in time for you to make arrangements.

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Washington, D.C.: I saw a message board on I-295 this morning that work is to begin on the S. Capitol Street Bridge this weekend. Do you have any information on what they are doing and how long it will take?

Thanks.

Eric Weiss: Yes, I am actually working on a story about it for tomorrow's paper. They will be closing parts of the bridge after rush hours on several upcoming weekends. Then the bridge will be closed for one to two months this summer so crews can lower the bridge so it hits South Capitol Street before the stadium. Then they will redo South Capitol Street to M Street with a traffic circle and all sorts of nice stuff. Pick up tomorrow's Washington Post. Still only 35 cents!

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Washington, D.C.: I'm sure there will be lots of complaints today, so I just wanted to say I was very pleased to see my G8 Metro bus on time today so I could be on time to work!

Thanks Metro!

Eric Weiss: Is that you, Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein?

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Arlington, Va.: Just a sad commentary on our region's lack of preparedness for anything remotely deviating from normal weather. If your vehicle has summer tires, it will NOT have good traction in snow/ice. Now if you take a 6,000-pound SUV and slap some summer tires on it...well you get the idea. Instead of trying to venture outside and demonstrate the 0 traction x 4 wheels = 0 traction maxim, just stay HOME! I guess some things will never change.....

Eric Weiss: SUVs give great traction going up a hill, but turn into giant, heavy steel sleds going downhill. Be careful.

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Regarding the schools: The reader from Arlington misses a fundamental point. Not all roads in this area are equal. Head out into the parts of Fairfax County beyond Ox Road (Clifton, for example) or north of Georgetown Pike (up where L'Auberge Chez Francois is) and you'll find very different roads from closer in, lost of hills and curves and lots of shade that keeps the road frozen longer. Surely it's better for the schools to err on the side of caution. The same people who squawk that the roads seemed clear would rip the school board a new you-know-what if a bus slid off the road due to ice.

With that said, I don't know why Fairfax County, which has four administrative areas for its schools, can't open one area on time and another late if the roads require (i.e., why is it all or nothing), but that's a topic for a different discussion.

Eric Weiss: Discuss amongst yourselves...

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Washington, D.C.: Let the onslaught of snowy and icy road complaints begin!!

Just an observation -- Coming from College Park back home to Rhode Island Ave NW last night I found it interesting that not a bit of road had been touched in Maryland along Route 1, but as soon as we crossed into DC, there was a salt truck active and the roads had obviously already been treated.

Kudos to DDOT. MDOT, what gives?? Glad I live in DC!

Eric Weiss: Is that DDOT spokesman Erik Linden?

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Washington, D.C.: Dear W&S:

I hate to say it, I'm a greenie at heart, but I think we need to bite the bullet and accept the fact that the 1970s vintage road network that we have throughout a large portion of D.C. area isn't even close to being up to the task of handling the number of cars it is being asked to carry on a daily basis. What do I mean? I mean a creative widening of 66 inside the beltway (perhaps snuggling up closer to the metrorail median for a rush hour only lane). I mean calling DDOT officials insane for wanting to close the Whitehurst freeway and deconstructing the Southeast/Southwest Expressway (395). I mean telling Virginia leaders that if they don't support transportation improvements they will be out on their donkey. I mean telling Maryland officials that the ICC should have been built 15 years ago. I mean we might need an outer beltway. Perhaps we need another interstate to run southwest from D.C. in the triangle of land between 395/95 and 66. Folks, the time has come to accept the fact that we need more asphalt on which to drive our primary modes of conveyance, the automobile. Face it, we can't expect not to be able to expand the road network as we grow. Having people in their cars for 1.5 hours for what should be a 20 minute drive isn't good for the environment! Bring some balance back into the equation, we need more roads to take people where they want to go!

Eric Weiss: Your frustration is why politicians in Maryland from both parties are now behind the ICC and why anti-tax Republicans in Richmond are bending over backwards to find ways to raise money for new roads.

But let's not forget transit. Without Metro, VRE, buses, carpools etc., the roads would be much, much, much, much, much worse.

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Re: Arlington: C'mon, Arlington, you know as well as anybody why the schools were closed. All it would take would be for one kid to slip on the ice, either walking to school or walking to the bus stop, and there would be a lawsuit out the wazoo.

Eric Weiss: It is against local Arlington ordinances for kiddies to slip.

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"Then they will redo South Capitol Street to M Street with a traffic circle and all sorts of nice stuff.": Will that be a proper roundabout or one of D.C.'s ghastly abominations with traffic lights?

Eric Weiss: I believe it will be one of those ghastly faux-roundabouts.

I did ask DDOT's talented deputy chief engineer Kathleen Linehan Penney why District traffic circles had lights.

She said it was to protect pedestrians. And the last time I checked, they are building a big baseball stadium across the street.

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Metro Media Relations: Hi. No, that wasn't me, but I was on the 22A bus from Fairlington to the Pentagon Metrorail station this morning, and my bus was on time too! -- Lisa Farbstein

Eric Weiss: Was that your evil doppelganger?

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Washington, D.C.: do you have any idea why Metro ran a regular schedule on Martin Luther King Jr. day? I had the day off but benefited from the extra service. I was on an inbound 8:30 a.m. train at Cleveland Park that was almost empty. It seems that they could have saved money and run a Saturday schedule (not Sunday because on many bus lines the Sunday service is pathetic so those that had to get to work would have had a hard time is buses ran on a Sunday schedule).

Eric Weiss: Lisa, why did Metro run a regular schedule on MLK Day?

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Arlington, Va.: Even though I (like many of us) have a lot of complaints about Metro service, if there is one thing they have done recently that I LOVE it is the "Next Train Arrival" feature on their Web site (which I can also get on my Blackberry.)

Since the Trip Advisor often gives you the wrong time since trains are often slowed down for a variety of reasons it is VERY helpful to have this. I sometimes have to work late at my employer downtown and it's great to have the time up so I do not leave and then find myself waiting 10-plus minutes for a bus when I could be in my more comfortable office getting work done.

So please post this and I hope the Metro Board never ever cuts this because of budget cuts.

Eric Weiss: Some love out there today.

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Arlington, Va.: Oh -- please please help! I have to drive from Arlington to Rockville, Manor Country Club, 14901 Carrollton Rd., tomorrow morning. How long will I have to sit on 270? Is there any other way? I need to be there around 9:30 -- when should I leave my house?

Eric Weiss: You will be going against prevailing traffic, but it will still be unpleasant.

Any route suggestions/shortcuts out there?

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South Riding, Va.: I want to give kudos to the Loudoun County road workers. I was driving home yesterday afternoon in the snow and as soon as I reached the Fairfax/Loudoun county line, I was greeted by two snow plows clearing the roads and spreading salt on the Loudoun County side of US-50. I can't say how long they had been there, but the remaining few miles home were much easier than any of the roads I was on in Fairfax.

Eric Weiss: More warm hugs...

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Washington, D.C.: I am from Ohio. I cannot believe that schools were closed today. The snow stopped last night, and the roads were fine this morning. I agree with the earlier poster that it is all just a media hype around here that gets everyone crazy and forces the schools to shut down. I wish my job allowed us to create that kind of hype to shut down the office. The media doesn't suffer for creating this hype, it's the parents who offices aren't closed who do.

Eric Weiss: Many new arrivals to the Washington area are surprised at how quickly everything shuts down around here even before the first flake fall.

But what other region of the country throws drivers from Florida, Wisconsin, Maine and Louisiana and every other state of the union together on the same road.

I'd stay home too (if my bosses would let me).

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Washington, D.C.: It's sickening how quickly schools close these days. I grew up in Montgomery County in the '70s and we needed a blizzard to have the schools close. I remember plenty of snowy mornings walking to school. These days, a mere dusting of snow and schools close. Pathetic. Yes, I know this makes me sound old...

Eric Weiss: Good question. Do schools close quicker nowadays?

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Washington, D.C.: Hi Eric--

I noticed something this morning...the Metro lots are never cleaned up after a large storm. A lot of slipping and sliding this morning from Metro parkers trying to get to the station from the parking lot. The last snow storm we had it was the same way. So was the last one before that. Is that not Metro's responsibility? Seems like a possible casualty lawsuit is someone falls. Just an observation.

Eric Weiss: Sounds like a legitimate safety concern.

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Washington, D.C.: I work near the Gallery Place Metro station and often work late. While this may seem implausible, there always seem to be more trains going in the direction of Grosvenor/Shady Grove than in my direction, Silver Spring/Glenmont.

Then on Saturday I went to the Wizards/Celtics game at the Verizon Center. It ended around 10:30. I apparently had just missed a train, as the sign on my platform read, next train to Glenmont 16 minutes. In contrast, on the opposing platform there were trains to Shady Grove arriving in 1, 7 and 14 minutes. And, after the first train pulled away, an empty train pulled in, presumably an extra added to help disperse the post-game crowd. But my side waited for the full 16 minutes before our train pulled up. And according to the platform monitors, it would be another 15 minutes before another train came along. What gives?

Eric Weiss: You are not crazy. Those were trains added by Metro to help the crowds from the basketball game. Trains are added in the direction of Shady Grove because that's where most people are headed after the game, according to Metro.

They also add trains at the end of Caps games and concerts.

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Fairfax: As usual when we have a winter storm, the Dunn Loring Metro parking lot was a sheet of ice at 7:20 this morning. The crews had barely started work, clearing only the bus lanes and the part of the sidewalk nearest the station. The Metro people seem unwilling to have crews start work before about 6 a.m., so they are always behind the curve, trying to clear lots when they are full, rather than overnight when they are empty and easy to treat. What will it take to get them to change this short-sighted policy? A few broken hips and ankles?

Eric Weiss: Clearing the parking lots is Metro's responsibility. They have their own crews as well as private contractors. I'll let Metro know there was a problem at Dunn Loring.

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Fairfax: I concur with the poster about Metro parking lots. The sidewalks from the parking garage to the Vienna-Fairfax Metro weren't salted or shoveled or anything. It was a long, slippery trek to the station.

Eric Weiss: And so on...

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Re: Metro lots: Not only were the lots a mess, but the uncovered parts of the platform at Van Dorn were treacherous. There were some sprinklings of salt, but plenty of ice and snow the make the platform hazardous.

Eric Weiss: And so on...

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Washington, D.C.: "RE: But what other region of the country throws drivers from Florida, Wisconsin, Maine and Louisiana and every other state of the union together on the same road."

New York City, Boston and Chicago come to mind. Having lived in all three, I can personally attest that snowstorms are handled far more effectively than in D.C.

Eric Weiss: Those three cities are routinely pounded with snow, so I don't know if you can really can't compare them to D.C. (After all, Buffalo does a boffo job with snow removal.)

Also, those places have a much, much higher proportion of natives to "come-heres'' than the Washington area.

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Springfield, Va.: I am from Ohio too but have lived in this area for the past 10 years. The difference is that Ohio has the equipment and resources to clear the roads as soon as the snowflakes start. They don't have the number of trucks here to do the same. The other factor is that it usually stays cold enough in Ohio such that roads don't become icy as much (from the melting then the refreezing that we get here). So cut the D.C. area some slack!

Eric Weiss: Good point.

But I don't think we should cut local officials any "slack.''

It does snow here and they should have the equipment, plan and materials in place to safeguard the region's roadways.

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Re: Schools closing more: I agree that it seems like schools more often now than they used to for minor winter weather. Part of the problem is that the roads are much more crowded than they were 15-20 years ago -- it doesn't take much snow or ice to bring rush hour traffic to a halt.

Eric Weiss: I agree.

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Falls Church, Va.: Today's commute was a big reminder of just how treacherously slippery Metro's platform tiles get in wet weather. I'm always surprised that there aren't more slip-and-fall injuries. Has Metro ever considered putting down some floor surface that's a little more pedestrian-friendly?

Eric Weiss: Yes, Metro will provide every rider with crampons to slip over their loafers...

No, Metro is looking at testing out larger, square tiles used in the NYC Subway that have better anti-slip properties than the small, hexagonal tiles currently used.

Metro is asking the manufacturer if they can be made in the traditional Metro shape.

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Springfield, Va.: One thing that frustrates me during these weather delays is that my portions of my bus route get canceled. Thus, I am unable to get to work. I'm encouraged to use public transportation to ease congestions (especially out of Springfield), but then I'm left with no alternative. Luckily, I have great neighbors who are willing to drive out of their way to take me to the Metro. Others may not be so fortunate.

Eric Weiss: Why would a portion of your bus route get cancelled?

What bus line and in what area was the cancellation?

You should be able to rely on your bus in all types of weather.

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Fairfax, Va.: I can't believe part of Lee Highway was closed for 45 minutes yesterday after 4 p.m. because VDOT hadn't bothered to salt the street and cars were slipping all over the place. Why wasn't a major artery like that salted ahead of time?

Eric Weiss: Joan Morris of VDOT said she feels for you and that officials will gather tomorrow to "see what went wrong and where'' and hopefully improve for the next time.

She said conditions got "real nasty real fast'' and VDOT will look to see whether they had all the right people at all the right places.

Morris said it took her six hours to get from Williamsburg to Arlington yesterday and she said conditions were "scary.''

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Springfield, Va.: I was driving on some of the major roads in Springfield/Fairfax yesterday after the snow started, and the roads were extremely hazardous. Why didn't DOT get around to salting at least the major roads? It is not like they did not know it was going to snow. One side note: 4-wheel drive SUVs are not immune to ice (as plenty saw yesterday).

Eric Weiss: See above.

Let's be careful out there, especially those in SUVs heading downhill...

Until next time, may your tires be firm and your windshield clear!

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