Langley HS PTSA Survey Results on VDOT's Proposed I-495 NB Ramp Closure

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another data point exemplifying why I am so grateful we spent extra money to live in a walkable neighborhood.

I can't even imagine the daily hell of having to involve the beltway in our child getting to school - what an awful way to live.

The issue isn't using the beltway to get our kids to school. It's trying to use our local roads and finding them backed up due to MD drivers using them as access to the Beltway. Big difference.

For Langley this is only an issue inside the beltway, not outside it. The MD drivers are going a different direction than the buses from school to outer beltway suburban neighborhoods.

Not at all! The MD drivers are coming from Sterling, Reston, and beyond and using GTP, Old Dominion, Swinks Mill, Balls Hill, etc. to get to the beltway in order to avoid getting on the toll road. These local roads - outside the beltway - are backed up every afternoon, thanks to the MD drivers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The poster stated: "For Langley this is only an issue inside the beltway, not outside it. The MD drivers are going a different direction than the buses from school to outer beltway suburban neighborhoods."

I argued it is not. LHS students are traveling to the school until for extracurriculars - sports, theatre, clubs etc... into the evening - coming from the West - eastbound to Langley - and competing with the Maryland commuters who are using GTPike and its feeder roads to avoid the Beltway and toll roads.

My apologies if that was not clear.

I live smack in the middle of this congestion nightmare. I’m not sure where the traffic will be diverted to. I’m 3 months new to this neighborhood so I do not yet have an opinion about the 495N closure.

I don’t mind the tysons apartments and condos coming to Langley. Makes sense to me.

My kids take tennis lessons in downtown McLean and we are late everyday. My kids are only in elementary. When I was in high school and middle school, we would stay after school for sports and extracurricular activities. Is that not the case around here?

[Anonymous]

Pp here. My DH told me the old dominion and balls hill rd intersection has a sensor that turns the light green. Is this true?

Old dominion backs up for a mile often because people done pull up enough for the light to turn green - according to my husband.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pp here. My DH told me the old dominion and balls hill rd intersection has a sensor that turns the light green. Is this true?

Old dominion backs up for a mile often because people done pull up enough for the light to turn green - according to my husband.

Did you mean "don't" rather than "done"?

Can't imagine that intersection will get any better with the dozens of new homes going up at Mehr Farms there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp here. My DH told me the old dominion and balls hill rd intersection has a sensor that turns the light green. Is this true?

Old dominion backs up for a mile often because people done pull up enough for the light to turn green - according to my husband.

Did you mean "don't" rather than "done"?

Can't imagine that intersection will get any better with the dozens of new homes going up at Mehr Farms there.

Yes, I meant don’t. Ugh traffic sucks all around here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Possibly closing an off ramp because it makes it difficult for kids to get to extracurricular? Really? There are a number of inside the beltway schools that have traffic issues - should we just start closing roads to benefit school traffic? What am I missing?

Why does Langley high school convenience get to dictate access and ramp closures on a major highway?

This is completely unreasonable.

I bet if it were any other high school, you'd be fine with it. Just the fact that it's Langley means you are outraged.

That's just silly. It's reasonable for parents whose kids attend other schools near Tysons (Marshall, McLean, Madison) to want to know whether you're asking VDOT to make it easier to get to Cooper and Langley will just make it harder to get to their schools. I haven't heard a clear answer, and VDOT officials have said previously that closing the ramp would be a "wash" (i.e., reduce traffic near the Balls Hill/Georgetown Pike intersection and make it worse elsewhere).

Of course it won't be a wash. It would just clog up other roads.

And I don't see why closing off Georgetown Pike going east has much of an effect on the buses traveling west.

It’s clear you don’t understand the issue or the proposal. No one is proposing closing GTP , in any direction! On the contrary, we’re trying to alleviate congestion on that road (and feeder roads) by closing the Beltway exit, headed north, in the afternoons. That’s why GTP is always backed up in the afternoons, headed east. MD drivers use it to access the beltway, when they should be using the toll road instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Possibly closing an off ramp because it makes it difficult for kids to get to extracurricular? Really? There are a number of inside the beltway schools that have traffic issues - should we just start closing roads to benefit school traffic? What am I missing?

Why does Langley high school convenience get to dictate access and ramp closures on a major highway?

This is completely unreasonable.

I bet if it were any other high school, you'd be fine with it. Just the fact that it's Langley means you are outraged.

That's just silly. It's reasonable for parents whose kids attend other schools near Tysons (Marshall, McLean, Madison) to want to know whether you're asking VDOT to make it easier to get to Cooper and Langley will just make it harder to get to their schools. I haven't heard a clear answer, and VDOT officials have said previously that closing the ramp would be a "wash" (i.e., reduce traffic near the Balls Hill/Georgetown Pike intersection and make it worse elsewhere).

Of course it won't be a wash. It would just clog up other roads.

And I don't see why closing off Georgetown Pike going east has much of an effect on the buses traveling west.

It’s clear you don’t understand the issue or the proposal. No one is proposing closing GTP , in any direction! On the contrary, we’re trying to alleviate congestion on that road (and feeder roads) by closing the Beltway exit, headed north, in the afternoons. That’s why GTP is always backed up in the afternoons, headed east. MD drivers use it to access the beltway, when they should be using the toll road instead.

I'm confused is GTP a private road? If it is a public road MD drivers should be allowed to use it - there are certainly many VA drivers in my neighborhood, including many on residential streets much narrower than GTP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pp here. My DH told me the old dominion and balls hill rd intersection has a sensor that turns the light green. Is this true?

Old dominion backs up for a mile often because people done pull up enough for the light to turn green - according to my husband.

This is not true at all! That light takes forever to get through, on all sides of the intersection. There is no sensor there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Possibly closing an off ramp because it makes it difficult for kids to get to extracurricular? Really? There are a number of inside the beltway schools that have traffic issues - should we just start closing roads to benefit school traffic? What am I missing?

Why does Langley high school convenience get to dictate access and ramp closures on a major highway?

This is completely unreasonable.

I bet if it were any other high school, you'd be fine with it. Just the fact that it's Langley means you are outraged.

That's just silly. It's reasonable for parents whose kids attend other schools near Tysons (Marshall, McLean, Madison) to want to know whether you're asking VDOT to make it easier to get to Cooper and Langley will just make it harder to get to their schools. I haven't heard a clear answer, and VDOT officials have said previously that closing the ramp would be a "wash" (i.e., reduce traffic near the Balls Hill/Georgetown Pike intersection and make it worse elsewhere).

Of course it won't be a wash. It would just clog up other roads.

And I don't see why closing off Georgetown Pike going east has much of an effect on the buses traveling west.

It’s clear you don’t understand the issue or the proposal. No one is proposing closing GTP , in any direction! On the contrary, we’re trying to alleviate congestion on that road (and feeder roads) by closing the Beltway exit, headed north, in the afternoons. That’s why GTP is always backed up in the afternoons, headed east. MD drivers use it to access the beltway, when they should be using the toll road instead.

Closing that exit ramp does NOT mean the Maryland drivers will automatically take the Toll Road instead. Many would slog through Tysons to get to other entrances to the Beltway, which would make it worse for people trying to get to Marshall HS at the same times. Other Virginians will be inconvenienced just as much as the Maryland drivers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Langley students driving West - from LHS - the issue is the commuter traffic using Dead Run Drive and Balls Hill Road as cut-throughs the I-495 NB ramp and clogging that intersection and GTPike inside of the Beltway. But the greater issue for students is actually GTPike outside of the Beltway and trying to get to school for their practices that begin after 5:00pm. As a previous poster stated, no school has enough gyms and fields to accommodate all the teams directly after school - and many coaches come from other areas and cannot get to Langley until 5:00pm or later.

Because they need to go home first? I don't understand. I'm a local to this area. When I had a game that day or even a practice or afterschool club meeting I just stayed afterschool. When we had an away game we rode a bus to the other school.

Since you are new to the area, you may not be aware that Langley also has the longest border in the county - stretching nearly 17 miles up to the Loudoun County Border. Don't even get started on the re-districting argument. Previous posters above have already run through that nonsense. And anyway, it's not the kids fault that School Board member Jane Strauss crafted these nutty district lines.

Do you even read? I said I went to school here. That's what a local means.

My goodness. Please accept my apologies. When I read it quickly on my small phone screen I thought it is said you are a new local to the area. So sorry to have offended you.

Regardless, can someone answer why this is an issue for Langley students? Why are they going east in the afternoon anyway?

[Anonymous]

I’m a parent who just arrived at Langley to pick up my student. It is now 3:49. I was stuck on GTP, as usual, for 25 minutes over a stretch of two miles - from Spring Hill Road to Cooper MS. The line of MD drivers - in both directions - trying to get to the Beltway north ramp was unreal. Not only was GTP at a standstill, but so was Swinks Mill, Balls Hill, and Dead Run. All MD drivers headed for that ramp, along with some very frustrated VA drivers just trying to use GTP.

A PP asked why students would be headed east on GTP at this hour - many are parents trying to get to LHS to pick up our kids who have to stay after. There are late buses that run on certain days, but they leave school much later and get stuck in the same traffic, making the kids that much later.

VDOT, if you happen to be reading this, PLEASE close the northbound beltway ramp off of GTP in the afternoons, starting at least by 2:15. There is no reason our local drivers, including teachers, parents, and students, should have to wait in this insane traffic jam just so Maryland drivers can get a toll-free shortcut home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a parent who just arrived at Langley to pick up my student. It is now 3:49. I was stuck on GTP, as usual, for 25 minutes over a stretch of two miles - from Spring Hill Road to Cooper MS. The line of MD drivers - in both directions - trying to get to the Beltway north ramp was unreal. Not only was GTP at a standstill, but so was Swinks Mill, Balls Hill, and Dead Run. All MD drivers headed for that ramp, along with some very frustrated VA drivers just trying to use GTP.

A PP asked why students would be headed east on GTP at this hour - many are parents trying to get to LHS to pick up our kids who have to stay after. There are late buses that run on certain days, but they leave school much later and get stuck in the same traffic, making the kids that much later.

VDOT, if you happen to be reading this, PLEASE close the northbound beltway ramp off of GTP in the afternoons, starting at least by 2:15. There is no reason our local drivers, including teachers, parents, and students, should have to wait in this insane traffic jam just so Maryland drivers can get a toll-free shortcut home.

Ridiculous. Closing the ramp doesn't mean that Maryland drivers will necessarily hop on the Toll Road instead. If they don't want to pay the toll, they'll just find another entrance to 495, where they will further slow down the traffic on roads that already have other DC, MD, and VA commuters.

It's the price we pay for living in a busy region and in a state that has actively encouraged businesses to operate in Fairfax County. Parents, teachers, and students at one high school - Langley - do not deserve preferential treatment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a parent who just arrived at Langley to pick up my student. It is now 3:49. I was stuck on GTP, as usual, for 25 minutes over a stretch of two miles - from Spring Hill Road to Cooper MS. The line of MD drivers - in both directions - trying to get to the Beltway north ramp was unreal. Not only was GTP at a standstill, but so was Swinks Mill, Balls Hill, and Dead Run. All MD drivers headed for that ramp, along with some very frustrated VA drivers just trying to use GTP.

A PP asked why students would be headed east on GTP at this hour - many are parents trying to get to LHS to pick up our kids who have to stay after. There are late buses that run on certain days, but they leave school much later and get stuck in the same traffic, making the kids that much later.

VDOT, if you happen to be reading this, PLEASE close the northbound beltway ramp off of GTP in the afternoons, starting at least by 2:15. There is no reason our local drivers, including teachers, parents, and students, should have to wait in this insane traffic jam just so Maryland drivers can get a toll-free shortcut home.

If you were traveling on Georgetown Pike east to Cooper, it doesn’t seem like you’d be in a position to know the traffic situation on Swinks Mill, Old Dominion, Balls Hill and Dead Run at the same time. Perhaps you’re just offering up a list of roads near Cooper and Langley that you think should be off-limits to drivers who don’t live in the Langley HS district?

[Anonymous]

I don't have a dog in this fight and try to avoid both VA and MD as much as possible and don't think I've even once driven on the Georgetown Pike but people who've chosen to live in the suburbs and drive everywhere who are surprised at congestion getting mad at other people who live in the suburbs and drive everywhere who are trying to avoid congestion telling other folks that they can't do the very thing they want to do is just laughable.

Several posters on this thread have referenced how short the distances they need to cover are and how long it takes them - how about instead of kvetching about your fellow drivers on here you change the way in which people in your community get around so everyone isn't driving for short trips that might better be done on foot or bike or public transit or whatever. Because closing the ramp is only going to temporarily move the problem to another street.

The Maryland drivers at least don't have any choice but to do these trips in a car - all of these local high school trips are less excusable than the people commuting to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a parent who just arrived at Langley to pick up my student. It is now 3:49. I was stuck on GTP, as usual, for 25 minutes over a stretch of two miles - from Spring Hill Road to Cooper MS. The line of MD drivers - in both directions - trying to get to the Beltway north ramp was unreal. Not only was GTP at a standstill, but so was Swinks Mill, Balls Hill, and Dead Run. All MD drivers headed for that ramp, along with some very frustrated VA drivers just trying to use GTP.

A PP asked why students would be headed east on GTP at this hour - many are parents trying to get to LHS to pick up our kids who have to stay after. There are late buses that run on certain days, but they leave school much later and get stuck in the same traffic, making the kids that much later.

VDOT, if you happen to be reading this, PLEASE close the northbound beltway ramp off of GTP in the afternoons, starting at least by 2:15. There is no reason our local drivers, including teachers, parents, and students, should have to wait in this insane traffic jam just so Maryland drivers can get a toll-free shortcut home.

If you were traveling on Georgetown Pike east to Cooper, it doesn’t seem like you’d be in a position to know the traffic situation on Swinks Mill, Old Dominion, Balls Hill and Dead Run at the same time. Perhaps you’re just offering up a list of roads near Cooper and Langley that you think should be off-limits to drivers who don’t live in the Langley HS district?

Nice try, but nope. Traveling east on GTP to Langley, I passed in this order - Spring Hill, Swinks Mill, Balls Hill, and Dead Run. Of course, since traffic was barely even crawling along, I had plenty of time to observe the drivers on those backed up roads trying to turn eastbound on GTP. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to see exactly what’s going on and why.