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How do you tell the inner loop from the outer loop?
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Anonymous
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Ah, but there are signs. They are relatively small, white with red circles and blue writing.
Capital Beltway Inner Loop Capital Beltway Outer Loop These must also be the people driving 45 mph in the left lanes. |
Anonymous
| Sorry, but this thread is hilarious. HoW do you all find anything? |
Anonymous
| I have an overdeveloped sense of direction. I can find my way in strange cities with a glance at a map. It took me a few months to figure the whole inner/outer loop out when I moved here. I could not figure out why they would never say the direction (N, S, E, W) when discussing a beltway accident on the radio. I think I finally asked someone. It is just a strange way to describe a highway. I'm not sure it will jusy click for everyone if they've never heard of such a thing. |
Anonymous
I agree and have never truly understood why there is such great emphasis on these descriptions. I am very good with direction, and using inner/outer loop has never helped me at all. I guess it is more for describing traffic flow, so that the public can know which side of the road the accident is on. |
Anonymous
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OP back. Yes, for all of you "helpful" people, I GET that there is an "inner loop" which travels one way and an "outer loop" that travels the other way, and DC is in the middle. I'm not blind or dead. And I know that you can tell which way you are going by seeing the direction (West, East, etc.) By the way, I was born here, so I have gotten around quite well, thanks.
The point -- and I am getting quite close, so watch out --- is that when you are on the Beltway, as someone pointed out, all you see is a highway on either side of the median. There is no gentle curve in or out, no DC in the middle, no clue as whether you are an innie or an outie. And where I live, in Moco, there are actually several curves near Kensington/Chevy Chase/270/355 that are antithetical to this in/out curve business. So is it simply inborn directional sense that makes some people always know they are innies or outies? |
Anonymous
This is the 6:03 poster. I think the answer is yes. I can picture a map in my head to get a sense of where I am and what direction I am going. If you can't or don't do this, I don't see how dubbing the sides inner/outer loop is at all helpful. |
Anonymous
I think it's one of those things that either makes sense or doesn't. For some reason I can always tell on 495 whether I'm inner or outer loop/driving clockwise or counter-clockwise. However, I don't have the same sense about Baltimore, maybe because I haven't really looked closely at a map of it? FWIW, I don't have a particularly good sense of direction. Isn't N,S,E,W more confusing since the Beltway is a circle? If someone says they're going east on the beltway, you have to know if they're to the south or to the north of DC to know if they're heading from Alexandria to PG County vs Bethesda to College Park. To the OP: I live around the same part of the beltway as you. Yes, if I take a 50 ft segment of road, it might not appear to curve in the "right" direction, but if I zoom out in my mind and think about the curve of the road as a whole, I'm either heading clockwise or counter-clockwise. |
Anonymous
The (very good) reason why you can't say "There is an accident, Northbound on 495" is because there are two different areas that are "Northbound" and they are on opposite sides of the beltway from each other. The Outerloop is "Northbound" over in P.G. County. The Inner loop is Northbound on the west side of town... over by Tysons' Corner. |
Anonymous
Yes, but they could say "accident at Rt 236/Annandale, Northbound" and it would be perfectly understandable. |
Anonymous
| OMG - had to laugh when I saw this. For the first 5+ years of living here, I could never figure out where the hell this mythical (to me) "outer loop" was. Finally, I noticed those stupid little signs that appear periodically that say "outer loop" and realized what they meant. Haven't had any trouble since then. |
Anonymous
| I can't figure it out either, and like others, I don't know why the inner/outer description is even supposed to be helpful. I know that I'm taking the outer loop when I drive from Tysons to Alexandria, but I only know that because someone told me. I can't tell when I'm on it. I also don't know why it matters. I agree that directional signs are confusing...it's like, wtf, I don't want to go to baltimore! |
Anonymous
I've lived here my entire life and couldn't figure out the inner loop/outer loop thing either. But it's not like I was really trying. As long as I knew where I was going, I've never cared. It does suck when they talk about traffic or accidents using the loop verbiage and I don't know which side they're talking about. But now I know (kind of!) . Thanks DCUM
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Anonymous
Inner loop? Outer Loop? Which side? |
Anonymous
1. To the PP and all others who complain about having a bad sense of direction - this has nothing to do with a sense of direction. Inner and outer are not directions. 2. Ho-lee crap. As others have pointed out, the beltway is a big circle. There are 2 lanes in the circle, one on the inside, one on the outside. The one on the inside is called the Outer Loop, and the one on the outside is called the Inner Loop. Wait . . . that can't be right. Where did I get that wrong? Oh, yes. The lane on the INSIDE is called the INNER LOOP, and the one on the OUTSIDE is called the OUTER LOOP. Phew. I simply cannot believe this is that difficult. And if it is, I weep for the future. |
Anonymous
| 8:21 - sweet! |