Post-Snowpocalyptic Roundup

Seems like it's mostly over.

The I-66 corridor was paralyzed pretty much all week.

To sum it up:

• A major snow storm hit Friday and Saturday (starting on Feb. 5) and another on Tuesday and Wednesday (Feb. 9).
• Conditions even on the highways were reportedly quite bad at least for the first 24 hours after each storm hit. White out conditions were reported in the metropolitan region on Feb. 10. Total accumulation after the second storm was over three feet.
• Orange Line trains from East Falls Church to Vienna weren't running most of the week and most Fairfax Connector west county bus service was suspended. West county buses and western Orange Line trains ran limited service Tuesday and limited service in the afternoon Friday.
• The rest of the Metrorail and Metrobus network was running with limited service. Underground trains ran packed like sardines and with headways as long as 30 minutes. Buses provided limited service on only the most cleared roads.
• The government was closed from Friday afternoon (Feb. 5) to a delayed opening Friday (Feb. 12).

Anything I missed? Let me know in the comments.

The worst I-66 traffic jam in recent memory happened Friday morning (Feb. 12), the day the government decided to reopen, but before the aerial Orange Line or the west county bus service had been restored. The result was a huge traffic jam stretching from Route 50 in Fair Lakes to Constitution Avenue. (I traveled from Centreville to Falls Church, and the leg eastbound from Vienna to Route 7 took me nearly an hour.)

Snow is expensive. Besides costing taxpayers heaps in lost government productivity in Washington, Virginia has gone way over its snow budget and is eating into maintenance funds. Talk about having trouble with the snowbanks.

General Assembly is in session, and a number of transportation items were in committee, including:

• Defeated in House vote: a bill to lift Virginia's ban on radar detectors.
• Failed in committee: a bill to require environmental impact study on the high-occupancy/toll project on I-395.
• Failed in committee: a bill to create a Western Bypass corridor (often described as part of an outer Beltway).
• Going to House floor: a bill to increase the required passing clearance between bicyclists and cars to three feet.

Redevelopment plans for a Metro-fied Tysons Corner is nearing the finals. Anyone who lives, works, or shops in Tysons or who may live, work, shop, or visit friends and family there in the future (i.e. everyone in Northern Virginia and the metropolitan area) should take note on what could become Fairfax County's "downtown."

The storm has upset some of the public meetings, so there's still time to participate and voice support for Arlington-style smart growth, transit-oriented development, traffic calming, and urban density designed not to bring traffic but to bypass it with first-class transit, bike, and pedestrian transportation choices.

And in case you were getting disoriented with all the clear skies lately, the weather service is forecasting more snow by Monday night.

Photo credit: Dave Elmore

Belated New Year Roundup

Well, it's almost lunar new year.

The new overlords are in. Virginia's new governor, Bob McDonnell (R) says transportation is not on his agenda this year but he is using emergency money to reopen highway rest areas. He also wants to raise highway speed limits in rural areas.

Meanwhile the Beltway is winning accolades. If you thought the congestion at I-495 was bad, you weren't alone. The Daily Beast says the Capital Beltway is #3 among national bottlenecks. No surprise there.

Mind your vehicle occupancy. There have been many media reports of high-occupancy vehicle enforcement on I-66 since December. Fines are pricey and violations have been many. If you need a review on the region's HOV restrictions, check with the Commuter Page.

Metro is seeking input on its big budget decision. The region's transit backbone (Metrorail and Metrobus) has to cut service and/or raise fares and is presenting four options.

And some sorta good news. Fairfax Connector has adjusted schedules, including Centreville's 442 and 444 to Sully Station and Stone Road. This should mean a little more service and more frequent buses during peak periods. Check out the new schedules if you're a minute minder.

Sorry for the holiday hiatus. We're back.

Photo credit: Tom Saunders, VDOT

Autumnal Roundup

It's back to school season or at least townhall-style meetings in school cafeterias.

• The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation held public meetings in September discussing preliminary findings from their study of short- and midterm transit options on I-66. They're thinking mostly bus service improvements, and the study will be finalized next month.
• Metro is facing a budget shortfall and has held public meetings to discuss the topic in D.C. and Virginia. (Maryland meetings are scheduled for next month.) Service cuts, fare increases, increased contributions from participating jurisdictions, and other options are to be considered.
• Fairfax County is holding a series of meetings on its 10-year plan for bus service. Attend the meetings to learn about bus service, give input, and participate in the development of service recommendations. The remaining meetings are all scheduled weeknights, 6 to 8pm.

Interstate 66 is what state transportation secretary calls Northern Virginia's most congested and challenged corridor and he says its high-occupancy vehicle program needs to be updated (possibly longer, higher, and/or both directions). Others are calling for high-occupancy toll lanes. That said, if nearly half of I-66 commuters take transit, imagine what the highway would be like if more or less took transit.

For Tysons commuters, Fairfax County is starting a free lunchtime shuttle bus operating every ten minutes on two routes in Tysons Corner. If you bus or carpool to Tysons or if you want to just give your car a lunch break during the mid-day rush hour, then this service is probably for you.

Foreclosure rates in the outer suburbs have increased, according to a report in The Examiner. Looks like Fairfax County isn't in as bad a shape as Loudoun, Prince George's, and Prince William counties. But Fairfax's rate is still more than twice as high as its other neighbors.

Stone Road Park and Ride Full

I wandered the aisles around 8:35am (just before the 8:40 departure of FC 442) and there was but one parking spot left. (The two cars pictured are probably going to find that one spot already full.) Maybe I don't pay a lot of attention to the parking situation because I prefer to bike to the park and ride, but it seems like it's been quite a while since the Stone Road park and ride has been at capacity.

Ironically, on the way to Vienna, Interstate 66 seemed surprisingly uncongested -- with no backup within sight of Nutley Street as the bus got off toward the Metro station.

Photo by the author.

Independence Day News Roundup

Start thinking about more transit on the I-66 corridor. Reps. Gerry Connolly (D) and Jim Moran (D), both of Northern Virginia, are pushing for federal funding to begin study of an extension of Metrorail's Orange Line to Centreville. Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is moving forward with an environmental study on a proposed expansion of the Manassas Line to Gainesville and Haymarket. Meanwhile, the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) is studying the I-66 corridor for more short- and medium-term fixes, such as bus rapid transit.

• The Washington Post: "Up Next on N.Va. Transit: Planning for Everything"
• Washington Business Journal: "Gerry Connolly, Jim Moran Push Rail Extension in Transportation Bill"
• The Washington Post: "Plans to Extend VRE To Haymarket Advance"
• VRE: Gainesville/Haymarket Extension (archives)
• DRPT: "I-66 Transit/Transportation Demand Management Study"

The county has no money. And as a county, Fairfax is reliant on the state transportation department (VDOT) and federal handouts for most transportation projects. VDOT allocated the county virtually nothing for new secondary road construction this year, but federal stimulus is funding highway construction at the Fair Lakes interchange and the extension of the Fairfax County Parkway to Fort Belvoir.

• The Washington Post: "Ailing Budget May Lead Fairfax Back to Car Tax"
• The Connection Newspapers: "Fairfax Out of Road Money"
• The Fairfax County Times: "County's Fiscal Outlook Remains Grim"
• VDOT: "Virginia Obligates More Than Half of Discretionary Highway Stimulus Funding"
• WTOP (AP): "Va. Receives $285M in Highway Stimulus Funding"

What if the county were a city? If Fairfax County were a city, as the county executive recently suggested, Fairfax would be the largest city in the region, bigger than Baltimore, D.C., Richmond, and Virginia Beach. And Fairfax as a city would have more independence from the state's central departments of transportation and taxation to take such matters into its own hands.

• The Washington Post: "Fairfax Executive Suggests Dropping 'County'"
• WTOP: "Should Fairfax County Change Its Name?"
• The Examiner: "Unhappy with Roadwork, Fairfax Eyes Becoming City"

Fairfax Connector took over former Metrobus routes in western Fairfax County. If you take a bus in Centreville, Chantilly, or Oakton (12's, 20's, 2W), check the Fairfax Connector website for new route numbers and any schedule changes.

• WMATA: "Metrobus Service, Fare Changes Begin June 28"
• Fairfax Connector: Centreville, Chantilly, Oakton Routes
• Fairfax County Department of Transportation: "Fairfax Connector to Absorb Centreville and Chantilly Metrobus Service Effective Monday, June 29, 2009"

Offbeat: Centreville Baptist Church has moved its sign off Route 29. The sign facing southbound traffic was of the large wheeled flashing variety usually used to alert drivers to dangerous or special conditions, but the message was an invitation for men to attend the church's prayer service.

• WTOP: "Church Asks Foregiveness, Moves Road Sign"