I95 Richmond to the Beltway people suck in cars for 17 plus hours

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My guess? People were still traveling after the holidays

Senator Tim Kaine is one of the people stranded overnight on 95.

WTOP just had him on.

He's out now apparently. Said his section finally started moving around 1:00pm.

[Anonymous]

No one can walk between the cars with water bottles and granola bars...maybe some diapers?

[Anonymous]

All the coverage shows that empty middle roadway. Get relief to the people! Start on both ends and go with food, water, blankets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why they didn't pre-treat 95/495.

I get that no one believed the snow would stick due to the warm temps, especially so much of it. But I drove on it Sunday night around 8pm, and there was no pre treatment on the highway whatsoever. Nada.

VDOT has stated that they couldn’t pre-treat the roads because this storm started as rain and everything would’ve washed away.

I don't believe that. There was never pouring rain. Temps fell fast, and it was light freezing rain and sleet before switching to snow. I don't think VDOT believed the weather forecasts like most of us. It was dry when I drove home Sunday night, and there was no pre treatment anywhere, so they didn't even try.

Obviously you are the genius that VDOT needs. You are brilliant and know so much better than professional traffic engineers and meteorologists. You should go and work for VDOT and then you can tell off all the other armchair quarterbacks who will second-guess and criticize you after the fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s just normal traffic for that section of 95. DC to Fredericksburg can take 3-4 hours.

That was my initial reaction too - that stretch of highway is always the worst.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All the coverage shows that empty middle roadway. Get relief to the people! Start on both ends and go with food, water, blankets.

+1 Should have happened last night/over night.

[Anonymous]

People simply cannot listen and stay home. Same with Covid. Everyone is just a victim of circumstance. (Ppl going to work are the exception).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one can walk between the cars with water bottles and granola bars...maybe some diapers?

I listened to someone talking who had a 6 month old in the car...poor cold baby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How come the guardrails weren't cut and at least some people allowed to get on the Express Lanes? Given that the road was closed for HOURS, I'm thinking more could have been done.

Are there express lanes that far down?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one can walk between the cars with water bottles and granola bars...maybe some diapers?

I listened to someone talking who had a 6 month old in the car...poor cold baby.

WHY WHY are you driving in a snowstorm with a 6 month old unless you are taking them to the ER?? Lack of proper planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So all the exits are closed too?

Seriously. Cars can't make their way (back, if need be) to the nearest exit?

I don't understand this either.

I’d imagine a lot of cars ran out of gas sitting in that traffic for that long. Many cars had to be abandoned, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why they didn't pre-treat 95/495.

I get that no one believed the snow would stick due to the warm temps, especially so much of it. But I drove on it Sunday night around 8pm, and there was no pre treatment on the highway whatsoever. Nada.

VDOT has stated that they couldn’t pre-treat the roads because this storm started as rain and everything would’ve washed away.

I don't believe that. There was never pouring rain. Temps fell fast, and it was light freezing rain and sleet before switching to snow. I don't think VDOT believed the weather forecasts like most of us. It was dry when I drove home Sunday night, and there was no pre treatment anywhere, so they didn't even try.

At 4am, it was raining. The roads were also already wet from rain on Sunday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, more people should have listened to the weather forecast and stayed off the road. Pre-treatment applications aren't designed to accommodate near regular traffic flows through a winter storm. It was snowing too heavily and there were too many cars/trucks on the road. It only took a few tractor trailer spinouts for chaos to ensue.

This. Plus, this was a mess all the way into DC - people couldn't make it up the incline of the exit to 210 (I think?) near DC. Then it's just a chain reaction, plows can't get through and everyone is stuck.

+1
There were just too many people on the road, and it was clear early on that the snow was heavy. It only takes one or two accidents and there's not much anyone can do to resolve it quickly. I honestly don't know why so many people were out -- the schools were all closed, the federal government was closed, I'm sure many other offices who follow the feds were closed, too -- what were all those people doing? Everyone knows that Virginia isn't used to handling that kind of snowstorm because it's not common.

No dear, “everyone” doesn’t know this.

Some of us are smart enough to understand that as the climate changes and the planet gets hotter and hotter, that snowstorms like this will be more and more common because of all the added moisture in the atmosphere.

And Virginia just elected a guy who has promised policies that will make the planet even hotter.

So I hope you like snowstorms like this. There will be a lot more in the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why they didn't pre-treat 95/495.

I get that no one believed the snow would stick due to the warm temps, especially so much of it. But I drove on it Sunday night around 8pm, and there was no pre treatment on the highway whatsoever. Nada.

VDOT has stated that they couldn’t pre-treat the roads because this storm started as rain and everything would’ve washed away.

I don't believe that. There was never pouring rain. Temps fell fast, and it was light freezing rain and sleet before switching to snow. I don't think VDOT believed the weather forecasts like most of us. It was dry when I drove home Sunday night, and there was no pre treatment anywhere, so they didn't even try.

At 4am, it was raining. The roads were also already wet from rain on Sunday.

Any time it rains, that section is a nightmare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, more people should have listened to the weather forecast and stayed off the road. Pre-treatment applications aren't designed to accommodate near regular traffic flows through a winter storm. It was snowing too heavily and there were too many cars/trucks on the road. It only took a few tractor trailer spinouts for chaos to ensue.

This. Plus, this was a mess all the way into DC - people couldn't make it up the incline of the exit to 210 (I think?) near DC. Then it's just a chain reaction, plows can't get through and everyone is stuck.

+1
There were just too many people on the road, and it was clear early on that the snow was heavy. It only takes one or two accidents and there's not much anyone can do to resolve it quickly. I honestly don't know why so many people were out -- the schools were all closed, the federal government was closed, I'm sure many other offices who follow the feds were closed, too -- what were all those people doing? Everyone knows that Virginia isn't used to handling that kind of snowstorm because it's not common.

No dear, “everyone” doesn’t know this.

Some of us are smart enough to understand that as the climate changes and the planet gets hotter and hotter, that snowstorms like this will be more and more common because of all the added moisture in the atmosphere.

And Virginia just elected a guy who has promised policies that will make the planet even hotter.

So I hope you like snowstorms like this. There will be a lot more in the future.

I believe global warming has already made them less rare. What were snowstorms in the past are now rainstorms.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/03/04/washington-dc-normal-average-snowfall/