Aug
17
“Move along. Nothing to see here.” –West Virginia
Filed under Washington D.C., traffic at 4:18 pm | 1 Comment
We occasionally talk about how awful it would be if the D.C. area ever had to evacuate. The transportation infrastructure here is wholly inadequate on a “normal” day, let alone in the midst of a mass exodus. As such, I was pleased to read in the paper the other day that some states are working to have evacuation plans in place. The title of the article sounds promising: “W. Va. Safety Officials Lay Exit Plans For Area Evacuees.” In particular, be sure to read how proud West Virginia is to be “leading the nation” in emergency planning.
So what is their grand plan? “[T]he current plan is to encourage displaced people to continue evacuation until they get to Ohio.” Thank you, West Virginia. That’s very big of you.
Jul
5
I was stuck in the usual Thursday-afternoons-during-the-summer traffic nastiness on my way home from work today. A honk from the car in the lane next to me grabbed my attention. I looked over, and the driver clearly wanted to talk with me. I paused my podcast, and rolled down my window.
“I’m from out of town. Why can’t we drive in those lanes?” he asked, pointing at the traffic flying by in the HOV lanes.
I simplified things and replied, “Those are for car pooling.”
“Oh,” he acknowledged. “So we have to stay in this all the way to Fredericksburg?” (Fredericksburg was still a good 20 miles south. We were easily averaging 15 miles an hour at this point– stop and go.)
“Yes, though the car pool lanes don’t go nearly that far.” I was trying to console him, as if to say it wouldn’t be all that great in the HOV lanes since they ended soon.
“Oh,” he acknowledged again. “So this should clear out as soon as those lanes merge, right?”
Who was I to squelch that glimmer of hope I heard in his question? “Sure, it should clear up a bit.” What else would you expect when 5 lanes of traffic consolidate into 3?! This didn’t seem like the type of discussion where I should lay out all the possible reasons traffic could easily get worse. And truthfully, traffic does generally pick up a bit after that merge due to limited on ramps for a while.
“Probably in 10 miles or so?” he wondered.
“Not nearly that long. Only a couple more miles.”
And with that, the conversation was over. I was glad the traffic did increase in speed a bit after the merge, so I didn’t appear to be a complete liar. Only on I-95 do you have a chance to verbally welcome visitors to your state while commuting home.
Feb
14
winter weather advisory
Filed under traffic, weather, government at 7:48 am | 2 Comments
Starting last week, the National Weather Service began issuing winter weather advisories for our area, with storms expected to hit yesterday and today. The storms actually came this time, and I’m sufficiently impressed. Depending on the area, there are multiple inches of snow topped off by a thick layer of ice, with freezing rain and sleet still coming down. Having said that, I’m still amazed at the hysteria of many people here:
* A guy in the cube next to me parked his car over a mile away yesterday because there’s a hill on the street leading to our building. Apparently it froze during a storm several years ago and caused a traffic backup. Hearing the weather forecast, he wasn’t going to risk it this time around.
* The schools closed all day yesterday in anticipation of the storms, before it even started snowing or raining. The rain didn’t start until early evening.
* The traffic reports on the radio today are spending more time telling you how to drive than they are giving updates on the accidents. (E.g., “Speed is your enemy.” “Because the roads are covered in ice, you need to allow more time to brake.”)
Well, the status of the Federal Government is apparently the thing to watch around here. They let out early yesterday, and have a 2 hour delay today, except for “essential” employees, I believe. It’s still unclear as to how that impacts my work schedule, so I braved the elements and drove in to work this morning. Knowing the commute would be a bit longer than usual, I figured I’d stop off at Starbuck’s and get something dark, bold, and black to drink to make the trip more enjoyable. I pulled into the parking lot, and the store was completely dark. They were closed. They can close because of weather?! Surely, if anyone is considered “essential,” it should be Starbuck’s employees.