Beltway HOT lanes to open Nov. 17th (Woodbridge, Fairfax: construction, university)

[scottfs]

Anyone plan on using them? I for one have been against them from the beginning and don't expect to use them.

HOT Express Lanes On 495 Set To Open Nov. 17 | WAMU 88.5 - American University Radio

[GustavoFring]

Originally Posted by scottfs

Anyone plan on using them? I for one have been against them from the beginning and don't expect to use them.

HOT Express Lanes On 495 Set To Open Nov. 17 | WAMU 88.5 - American University Radio

Excellent news. Can't wait for carpoolers, commercial vehicles and those more wealthy than I to pay for the privilege and lower the density on the poor-people lanes that I'll be using.

[michgc]

Has anyone heard them called "Lexus Lanes"? I was at a party this past weekend (here in NC), and someone mentioned that term - I hadn't heard them called that before.

[CaliTerp07]

Originally Posted by michgc

Has anyone heard them called "Lexus Lanes"? I was at a party this past weekend (here in NC), and someone mentioned that term - I hadn't heard them called that before.

Yup, heard that (or the equivalent) a few times.

I don't plan on using them. It would be for emergency situations only...otherwise I can't stomach the idea of paying so much.

[scottfs]

Their website and highway signage are now calling them the "Express Lanes" rather than HOT lanes. Perhaps they found there was some negative psychological connotation with HOT, probably from the T being for TOLL.

Have heard "Lexus Lanes" as well. Maryland has a Ritchie Highway, why can't we have Richie Rich Highway?

[spencgr]

These lanes aren't on my normal commuting route, so I will rarely use them, although I did get my new transponder in case I happen to have three people in my car and can use it for free.

That being said, I'm truly hoping that the Express Lanes will alleviate the traffic on the Outer Loop coming down from the AL bridge in the evenings. If so, I might be able to shave 5-10 minutes off of my commute!

[GustavoFring]

Originally Posted by spencgr

These lanes aren't on my normal commuting route, so I will rarely use them, although I did get my new transponder in case I happen to have three people in my car and can use it for free.

That being said, I'm truly hoping that the Express Lanes will alleviate the traffic on the Outer Loop coming down from the AL bridge in the evenings. If so, I might be able to shave 5-10 minutes off of my commute!

Unfortunately they don't begin until you get to 123, but it still might be enough of a pressure-release valve to make a difference. I'd be more worried about going north on the inner loop. Where those lanes end may cause a bigger jam than there is on a daily basis currently.

[terribletraffic]

I don't know who sold VDOT on this BS but we get to pay for roads that:
-we have to pay again to actually use (x2)
-don't really change the traffic situation at all in Va, Md, DC

Please, save the radio commercial propaganda budget for pot hole repair or even put it towards more roads.

The thing is everyone is caught up on a "new" road, but there will be little likely improvement in the overall commute as the "express" or "hot" lanes dump right back off into the same choke points:
the MD Cabin John Bridge (before the GW parkway) cluster to the 270 and 495 into Silver Spring and College park. Eventually it will become another parking lot for the same old 95 S disaster into woodbridge stafford and Fredricksberg.

How many times is traffic solid all the way around the beltway into MD? So even if there is more lanes in Va, nothing has been done to move traffic up/down stream. It's basically a road to nowhere.

Why don't we really sit back and say, "ok lets stop all of this mad road spending until we can put somthing down on paper that is a complete game changer". Like a southern Potomac crossing that will take through traffic off the road and bypass DC coming over from VA to MD south of Fredricksberg. Likewise there needs to be another potomac crossing to the north west of the existing beltway, but again, there is a complete lack of vision and forsight.

VDOT in Fairfax county and Loudoun county can't agree on an expansion joint material, light sychronization, or lane configuration at their interface at Dulles, how on earth are they going to cooperate with Mdot???

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by terribletraffic

The thing is everyone is caught up on a "new" road, but there will be little likely improvement in the overall commute as the "express" or "hot" lanes dump right back off into the same choke points:
the MD Cabin John Bridge (before the GW parkway) cluster to the 270 and 495 into Silver Spring and College park. Eventually it will become another parking lot for the same old 95 S disaster into woodbridge stafford and Fredricksberg.

Yes, I agree, it will completely suck for people on the Inner Loop in the afternoons, as the HOT lanes dump back onto 495. But that's not me, so I don't care too much. I'm going the opposite way and hope that the traffic can ease up and people split into HOT lanes and regular lanes.

When I am on the Inner Loop in the morning, there is rarely traffic at that point, so I don't envision it being too much of an issue.

I realize my comments are all about my personal commute, but I really can't concern myself with other people's.....

[GustavoFring]

Terrible, I tend to agree with you, but this road is better than nothing at all. I feel as though travelers on this road will fall into one of four groups:

1) Carpoolers - These are people that may have only chosen to take 95>>395 into DC before, but they can now carpool all the way from Woodbridge to Tysons and if they chose, hop on 66 and carpool all the way to DC. All of this without ever having to intermingle with local traffic

2) Commercial drivers - construction vans, light trucks (not sure if 18 wheelers are allowed). If you have a truck full of guys and equipment trying to get to a job site, you're either carpooling or it is in your employer's best interest to pay the 7 bucks to get you there on time

3) People with more money than sense or are late - There's an entire greenway to leesburg that proves there's a market for these folks, and while it won't have the same captive audience, there will be takers

4) Salesmen/consultants - People who have no fixed office and spend their days driving to and from office to office for one reason or another. Usually these people don't pay for their cars, gas or tolls. You better believe they'll take advantage.

Given that I believe those four groups will utilize the new lanes at at least 25% of what the free lanes are being utilized at, that will lower the overall burden on the free lanes for cheap asses like myself. In the end, we're ending up with 50% more lanes, and completely rebuilt interchanges so those lanes don't have to even interact with the other lanes. I certainly won't be paying for them unless there's an emergency, so I don't care that much.

My only fear is that there is some sort of exclusive contract that ensures a much more difficult process for improvements to the free lanes in the future (such as expansion or alternatives) so as to direct traffic onto the Lexus LAnes.