The 15 Minutes the Earth Stood Still

Just before 10 am this morning on eastbound I-66 approaching the Beltway interchange, an incident brought traffic to a 15-minute standstill. Traffic reporters said a motorcade was moving through the Falls Church area and on the Beltway. People got out of their idling cars to stretch. WTOP confirms that the president was visiting a local school.

Motorcades are another traffic incident the area deals with, but backup at the Beltway happens almost everyday with or without the Obama administration dropping by. Traffic getting on the Beltway on the left and right lanes of I-66 often often clog the middle lanes for through traffic.

Partly to blame is the ongoing construction of high-occupancy/toll lanes on the Beltway, which worsens the bottlenecks at the I-66/I-495 interchange. This interchange is being reconfigured to accommodate HOT lanes and ramps, new bridges, and toll facilities. Honestly, I don't know what the interchange will be like in the HOT era, but it has to better than it is now, right? Right...?

Today was just one of those days I wish I took the bus.

Photo credit: Ryan Sandridge