Since people are saying more lanes don't help congestion, I have a solution umyou will love! Let's close 66, 0 lanes = 0 traffic. There, the problems with I-66 are solved!

It is bad, and not just during rush hour.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, the problem isn't Arlington. Interstate 66 inside the beltway is technically a parkway, not freeway. That was part of the deal when the feds negotiated cutting through neighborhoods in the late 1970's. The problem is, there is not one example where adding lanes or building new roads has "solved" traffic congestion. You can build until the cows come home and all that will happen is more cars will fill the roads.

Bottlenecking to 2 lanes certainly isn't solving anything.

Yes, this. At the very least, 66 should be 3 lanes eastbound until the Ballston exit. I drive 66 every morning, as an HOV, and it is almost always congested. And there are a LOT of cars that get off in Arlington. I get Arlington's argument about not wanting all these cars "cutting through" to DC, but Arlington refuses to acknowledge there are plenty of folks who get off of 66 in Arlington. (I get off and park in Rosslyn, which means I'm also spending money in Rosslyn.)

widening roads only increase induced demand.

http://www.brookings.edu/research/books/2004/stillstuckintraffic

Orange line to Haymarket makes more sense, or even just more frequent VRE (like Marc is expanding service. )

if you widen in Arlington are you widening Theodore Roosevelt bridge? the interstate terminates into a city, there are natural bottlenecks. take the metro people. you can live in Reston now and have easy metro ride.

Anonymous wrote:Braddock into 495 is insane. You'd be much better off driving to the Burke VRE or even the Manassas VRE and taking the train in. It's SO comfortable and incredibly relaxing vs. dealing with the constant stress of traffic.

Driving from Centreville to the Manassas train station via Rt 28 can take half an hour. Traffic is getting heavier by the day as developers continue to overbuild. We spend so much time sitting in traffic in the Centreville area. It's endless ugly sprawl and inadequate roads. You'll find 66 is pretty much always a mess of heavy traffic and stress. There are a lot of Park and Ride stations around Centreville, where you can park (only if you get there very early), and then catch a bus to Vienna metro or meet up with your carpool.

Google is your friend, but is it technically the Custis Memorial Parkway: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_66#Virginia but if you have lived here long enough, you know the whole history and trade offs that got what is there today.

To 11:10, if you are going to take the "free market" argument, then let's remove the subsidies on oil and road construction and maintenance, and start the conversation from there, but to suggest that cheap oil, housing subsidies after WWII and the auto lobby constitute "free market" development, then there can never be an honest conversation on the topic.

Traffic on 66 is terrible on the weekend, too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Braddock into 495 is insane. You'd be much better off driving to the Burke VRE or even the Manassas VRE and taking the train in. It's SO comfortable and incredibly relaxing vs. dealing with the constant stress of traffic.

PP, Where do you take the train to and how long does it take? How is parking at the VRE station?

Plenty of parking at the VRE station in Burke at 8AM. DH takes the VRE from Burke to Union Station and then the Metro one stop. He's home in 52 minutes (45 minutes for the VRE itself). Aside form the occasional death by suicide by train on the Manassas line, the trains are remarkably reliable, like down to the minute, every day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, the problem isn't Arlington. Interstate 66 inside the beltway is technically a parkway, not freeway. That was part of the deal when the feds negotiated cutting through neighborhoods in the late 1970's. The problem is, there is not one example where adding lanes or building new roads has "solved" traffic congestion. You can build until the cows come home and all that will happen is more cars will fill the roads.

Where did you get this?

Wanting to know this too. Do you just make things up?
Last time I checked, it is an interstate (hence the "I"66).

Freeways and parkway have 3 and 4 digit route numbers (the old fairfax co "parkway" rt 7100).

The VRE is a great way to commute but it is simply not an option for the many people whose work schedule does not conform to the VRE's very limited schedule.

Anonymous wrote:No, the problem isn't Arlington. Interstate 66 inside the beltway is technically a parkway, not freeway. That was part of the deal when the feds negotiated cutting through neighborhoods in the late 1970's. The problem is, there is not one example where adding lanes or building new roads has "solved" traffic congestion. You can build until the cows come home and all that will happen is more cars will fill the roads.

Where did you get this?

Anonymous wrote:Braddock into 495 is insane. You'd be much better off driving to the Burke VRE or even the Manassas VRE and taking the train in. It's SO comfortable and incredibly relaxing vs. dealing with the constant stress of traffic.

PP, Where do you take the train to and how long does it take? How is parking at the VRE station?

Braddock into 495 is insane. You'd be much better off driving to the Burke VRE or even the Manassas VRE and taking the train in. It's SO comfortable and incredibly relaxing vs. dealing with the constant stress of traffic.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, the problem isn't Arlington. Interstate 66 inside the beltway is technically a parkway, not freeway. That was part of the deal when the feds negotiated cutting through neighborhoods in the late 1970's. The problem is, there is not one example where adding lanes or building new roads has "solved" traffic congestion. You can build until the cows come home and all that will happen is more cars will fill the roads.

Bottlenecking to 2 lanes certainly isn't solving anything.

Yes, this. At the very least, 66 should be 3 lanes eastbound until the Ballston exit. I drive 66 every morning, as an HOV, and it is almost always congested. And there are a LOT of cars that get off in Arlington. I get Arlington's argument about not wanting all these cars "cutting through" to DC, but Arlington refuses to acknowledge there are plenty of folks who get off of 66 in Arlington. (I get off and park in Rosslyn, which means I'm also spending money in Rosslyn.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

With the volume of cars on 66, they really need to widen that road out to 8 lanes on each side.

Because the three previous times they widened 66 it solved the problem? Really, enough, you cannot build your way out of vehicular traffic. The sooner everyone realizes this, the sooner we will have public policy and dollars to go to real solutions.

You think traffic would be better or worse if 66 stayed at 2 lanes outside of the beltway? What if we narrowed it down to 1 lane? If narrowing the road down makes things worse, how can you conclude that widening it doesn't make the situation better?

The fact is even with the two widening efforts, it is still not wide enough. Many people have moved into Fairfax, and Loudoun residents have also exploded due to lower cost housing.

Free market economy determines where the jobs are and people are free to decide where they want to live. It is up to the government to build and maintain the infrastructure to support the demands of the tax payers.

Anonymous wrote:No, the problem isn't Arlington. Interstate 66 inside the beltway is technically a parkway, not freeway. That was part of the deal when the feds negotiated cutting through neighborhoods in the late 1970's. The problem is, there is not one example where adding lanes or building new roads has "solved" traffic congestion. You can build until the cows come home and all that will happen is more cars will fill the roads.

Bottlenecking to 2 lanes certainly isn't solving anything.