FREE RIDE

Va.'s HOT Question: How to Avoid Bottlenecks

WHEN DRIVERS ON NORTHERN VIRGINIA'S future high-occupancy toll lanes pay a premium rate to bypass congested traffic, they may be facing the same bottlenecks as everyone else when they exit.

As The Post's Eric M. Weiss reports, transportation planners in Virginia, along with the private companies that will build the new toll lanes on the Capital Beltway, I-95 and I-395, haven't quite figured out how to deal with some of the region's major traffic hot spots, like the American Legion Bridge and the 14th Street Bridge, where the HOT lanes will merge back into normal traffic. Writes Weiss:

About 43,000 vehicles use the carpool lanes across the 14th Street Bridge daily, according to government estimates. With the conversion of two commuter lanes into three HOT lanes, the prospect of customers paying high tolls to sit in traffic is a nightmare scenario for project proponents.
Some of the options for 14th Street include restriping one of the bridge spans to accommodate a third lane or widening the bridge.

» "Will Drivers Pay to Hurry Up and Wait?" [WaPo]

ALSO IN FREE RIDE
COMMENTS (2)

  • i've paid the 15 bucks to do this in other cities
    - the season pass would be for the ones who can afford it, of course

    By robgreenaway , Posted February 25, 2008 10:45 AM

  • Do the people who do not pay the fees get a credit on their tax payments for roads maintained with public funding but not made not publicly available?

    By AUA , Posted February 25, 2008 12:39 PM
POST A COMMENT
All comments on Express' blogs will be screened for appropriateness, spam and topic relevance, so there is likely to be a delay before your comment is displayed. Thanks for your patience.
Remember personal info?
(you may use HTML tags for style)