I'm scared of driving in MD.

[dodools]

guess.
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The problem comes from the fact that the major road infrastructure was designed and implemented back in the 50's and 60's here. Only modifications have been made since then. The beltway concept is obsolete. Adding more lanes doe not work. I like how Houston, TX civil engineers developed there infrastructure. We should take lessons from them! Basically you take an area where there are an extremely large amount of cars and little realstate to move around in and you get a over whelming feeling that if you don't get to your designation as quickly as possible then the chance increases exponentially that you'll get caught in a traffic jam and be late for work. Plus to compound the problem more and more people prefer to live in the country and drive the extra 30 to 60 minutes to get to there destinations mostly in large metropolitan cities. I was born and raised here. I remember just a little over a decade ago driving in Maryland was a (more) pleasant experience. Not anymore. And thanks to the federal government you can expect more jobs and more jobs and more jobs to increase an already over populated state to get even worst. Get use to it, it will get worst specially with BRAC piling in on the problem.

[cpterp]

Originally Posted by dodools

I remember just a little over a decade ago driving in Maryland was a (more) pleasant experience. Not anymore. And thanks to the federal government you can expect more jobs and more jobs and more jobs to increase an already over populated state to get even worst. Get use to it, it will get worst specially with BRAC piling in on the problem.

The DC Area has always had bad traffic, and I don't consider the state "over-populated" by any means. The term "over-population" doesn't apply to this country. The increased traffic is a side-affect of BRAC, the most notable example being in Bethesda (the feds are chipping in to aleviate problems there though). Otherwise, the effects of BRAC are 99% positive (on this state), and if you think the traffic effects in Maryland will be bad, I've heard that the Fort Belvoir area will be extremely terrible, compounding the already very unacceptable congestion.

The true solution to BRAC's potential congestion problems is transit access, and I'm pretty sure most of the Maryland locations already have transit whether MARC or Metro.

[RoadTripGurl]

Originally Posted by cpterp

The true solution to BRAC's potential congestion problems is transit access, and I'm pretty sure most of the Maryland locations already have transit whether MARC or Metro.

The MARC and the Metro cannot handle the increased influx of people now commuting because of the BRAC. Metro couldn't even handle the rise of commuters these past few years. Metro during rush hour is a nightmare and the MARC is getting too crowded and the services aren't even that great. Don;t even get me started on the parking lots. So I hope they come up with something else to alleviate the stress of commuting because our current options just aren't enough.

[Billiam]

I think i know where all these reckless drivers originate (have you seen how many transplants the DC area has??)

[BigDragon]

The beltway concept would work a little better if they had multiple beltways around each city. Unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to really upgrade the infrastructure around here because of all the lawsuits and environmental groups that keep shutting down major new road projects. When they finally do get something to approval it's severely gimped like the MD-200 project.

What they really need to do in this area is add some sort of elevated rail or monorail system. They should link various communities and business centers together to make transit practical. Simply putting buses on the road won't fix the problem. Underground transit is too expensive, and surface transit is already hitting capacity.

[Mom21]

MD drivers are great. We have what I like to say organized chaos. ...

But I like driving in Maryland, where else can you feel like a nascar driver and everyone with Maryland Tags is on one accord with this notion.

LOL! I totally agree! I found myself thinking this morning as I was driving Route 5, speed limit 50, that if I was doing anything under 65, I would be run off the road!

[LSone]

Maryland are still not as bad as Dallas-Fort-Worth area Texans. Clueless overweight people driving gigantic SUVs that will just cut in front of you real close, like they were paying you back for cutting them off....but you didn't.....it's just the way they drive and see nothing wrong with it. It's unbelievable. Something like this in PG county Maryland would instantly start a game of road rage.

And the left lane...... if you're doing 80 mph and there are cars on your butt indicating that they want to go faster, you really should move over when you get the chance.

[LSone]

Originally Posted by cksean

+1
Try driving here in California if you're driving speed limit on a fast lane...some will honk and high beam until you move over...

That's exactly what they should do. You're blocking the damn fast lane and causing traffic jams. You probably get road raged and cut off to hell every time you get on the road. How about people cutting you off and then slamming on the brakes? Do you enjoy this? They certainly get a satisfaction knowing that they've pissed you off. I've driven in Northen Cali for about a year, and people are very courteous and will move out of the left lane even if they're doing 80mph+ when they see me coming at over 100.