Not sure how I feel about this...

As a lot of DC-area drivers probably know, one of the most frustrating
"exits" in the whole metro area is from the EB SE/SW freeway to
Pennsylvania Ave. As it's not really an exit at all, but the end of the
freeway, all traffic has to go onto Pennsylvania Ave. EB. However, the
leftmost lane of three turns into an access road for RFK stadium, but it
is signed that it is to only be used by emergency vehicles or for
stadium events. Not very well signed, but signed nonetheless. Since I
pass through this area several times a week, I know well in advance what
lane I should be in; however, some people apparently do not and attempt
to merge over at the last possible second. I can easily see how that
would happen, as I said, the signs are small and hard to read. However,
I suspect that the vast majority of drivers that sit in the gore waiting
to be let over are MFFYers because nobody in their right mind would be
on that road unless a) they knew exactly where they were going or b)
were hopelessly lost. (this is true for a lot of DC "freeways," one
wrong turn and you're in somewhere you *REALLY* don't want to be.)
Therefore, I (and other drivers) have made it a practice to hold station
a foot or two away from the bumper of the preceding car, which isn't
particularly safe, but necessary unless you want a flood of gore-cutters
to keep you from missing yet *another* light after you've already sat
patiently waiting your turn for 15 minutes or so.

Anyway, this week DC has apparently decided to do something about this.
To keep people from flying up to the front of the line and sitting in
the gore MFFYing with their right blinker on, they have put in little
breakaway stand-up reflectors so that you can't cut across the gore
without running these reflectors down. This to me seems like a great
idea EXCEPT... what about the poor ******* that is only on the freeway
because he's lost, and/or is looking at a map and doesn't know ahead of
time what lane he's supposed to be in? The only real clue, until you
come around the last curve, is the fact that the lane line between the
leftmost lane and the middle lane is solid, and the two little signs
that say something like "left lane stadium traffic only" and are about
24" square. By that point the right two lanes are packed solid and not
moving, so driver's aren't as likely to let a late merger over.
Wouldn't it have been more helpful as a part of this work to post a
large, clear sign (maybe using the wording "stadium exit only" instead?)
or painting the wording directly on the pavement in large letters so
it's clear to people that they need to get out of the left lane while
they still have a chance to do so?

In any case it was pleasant the last few days not to have to ride the
bumper of the car in front of me to keep the MFFYers from making me sit
still through another light cycle.

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

Nate Nagel wrote:
> As a lot of DC-area drivers probably know, one of the most frustrating
> "exits" in the whole metro area is from the EB SE/SW freeway to
> Pennsylvania Ave. As it's not really an exit at all, but the end of the
> freeway, all traffic has to go onto Pennsylvania Ave. EB. However, the
> leftmost lane of three turns into an access road for RFK stadium, but it
> is signed that it is to only be used by emergency vehicles or for
> stadium events. Not very well signed, but signed nonetheless. Since I
> pass through this area several times a week, I know well in advance what
> lane I should be in; however, some people apparently do not and attempt
> to merge over at the last possible second. I can easily see how that
> would happen, as I said, the signs are small and hard to read. However,
> I suspect that the vast majority of drivers that sit in the gore waiting
> to be let over are MFFYers because nobody in their right mind would be
> on that road unless a) they knew exactly where they were going or b)
> were hopelessly lost. (this is true for a lot of DC "freeways," one
> wrong turn and you're in somewhere you *REALLY* don't want to be.)
> Therefore, I (and other drivers) have made it a practice to hold station
> a foot or two away from the bumper of the preceding car, which isn't
> particularly safe, but necessary unless you want a flood of gore-cutters
> to keep you from missing yet *another* light after you've already sat
> patiently waiting your turn for 15 minutes or so.
>
> Anyway, this week DC has apparently decided to do something about this.
> To keep people from flying up to the front of the line and sitting in
> the gore MFFYing with their right blinker on, they have put in little
> breakaway stand-up reflectors so that you can't cut across the gore
> without running these reflectors down. This to me seems like a great
> idea EXCEPT... what about the poor ******* that is only on the freeway
> because he's lost, and/or is looking at a map and doesn't know ahead of
> time what lane he's supposed to be in? The only real clue, until you
> come around the last curve, is the fact that the lane line between the
> leftmost lane and the middle lane is solid, and the two little signs
> that say something like "left lane stadium traffic only" and are about
> 24" square. By that point the right two lanes are packed solid and not
> moving, so driver's aren't as likely to let a late merger over.
> Wouldn't it have been more helpful as a part of this work to post a
> large, clear sign (maybe using the wording "stadium exit only" instead?)
> or painting the wording directly on the pavement in large letters so
> it's clear to people that they need to get out of the left lane while
> they still have a chance to do so?
>
> In any case it was pleasant the last few days not to have to ride the
> bumper of the car in front of me to keep the MFFYers from making me sit
> still through another light cycle.
>
> nate
>
> --
> replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
> http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

Sounds like they didn' t take a good idea far enough. The blocked lane
divider is a good idea but as you say, the signage needs to be both
readable and back far enough to allow time to merge.

I can only imagine the looks on all the MFFYers the day the reflectors
when up.

Harry K

Nate Nagel > wrote in
:

> As a lot of DC-area drivers probably know, one of the most frustrating
> "exits" in the whole metro area is from the EB SE/SW freeway to
> Pennsylvania Ave. As it's not really an exit at all, but the end of the
> freeway, all traffic has to go onto Pennsylvania Ave. EB. However, the
> leftmost lane of three turns into an access road for RFK stadium, but it
> is signed that it is to only be used by emergency vehicles or for
> stadium events. Not very well signed, but signed nonetheless. Since I
> pass through this area several times a week, I know well in advance what
> lane I should be in; however, some people apparently do not and attempt
> to merge over at the last possible second. I can easily see how that
> would happen, as I said, the signs are small and hard to read. However,
> I suspect that the vast majority of drivers that sit in the gore waiting
> to be let over are MFFYers because nobody in their right mind would be
> on that road unless a) they knew exactly where they were going or b)
> were hopelessly lost. (this is true for a lot of DC "freeways," one
> wrong turn and you're in somewhere you *REALLY* don't want to be.)
> Therefore, I (and other drivers) have made it a practice to hold station
> a foot or two away from the bumper of the preceding car, which isn't
> particularly safe, but necessary unless you want a flood of gore-cutters
> to keep you from missing yet *another* light after you've already sat
> patiently waiting your turn for 15 minutes or so.
>
> Anyway, this week DC has apparently decided to do something about this.
> To keep people from flying up to the front of the line and sitting in
> the gore MFFYing with their right blinker on, they have put in little
> breakaway stand-up reflectors so that you can't cut across the gore
> without running these reflectors down. This to me seems like a great
> idea EXCEPT... what about the poor ******* that is only on the freeway
> because he's lost, and/or is looking at a map and doesn't know ahead of
> time what lane he's supposed to be in? The only real clue, until you
> come around the last curve, is the fact that the lane line between the
> leftmost lane and the middle lane is solid, and the two little signs
> that say something like "left lane stadium traffic only" and are about
> 24" square. By that point the right two lanes are packed solid and not
> moving, so driver's aren't as likely to let a late merger over.
> Wouldn't it have been more helpful as a part of this work to post a
> large, clear sign (maybe using the wording "stadium exit only" instead?)
> or painting the wording directly on the pavement in large letters so
> it's clear to people that they need to get out of the left lane while
> they still have a chance to do so?
>
> In any case it was pleasant the last few days not to have to ride the
> bumper of the car in front of me to keep the MFFYers from making me sit
> still through another light cycle.
>
> nate
>

Do you have a newspaper "road dog" consumer advocate?

They check out things like this that readers send in,and get with the
appropriate agency and suggests they do something to correct the situation.
They could get better signage put up,change light timing or
configurations,whatever is appropriate.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

In article >,
Nate Nagel > wrote:
>
>Anyway, this week DC has apparently decided to do something about this.
> To keep people from flying up to the front of the line and sitting in
>the gore MFFYing with their right blinker on, they have put in little
>breakaway stand-up reflectors so that you can't cut across the gore
>without running these reflectors down.

I think I know the spot you're talking about. I'd place a bet on the
lifetime of the reflectors, but they might already be down.
--
There's no such thing as a free lunch, but certain accounting practices can
result in a fully-depreciated one.

Matthew Russotto wrote:
> In article >,
> Nate Nagel > wrote:
>
>>Anyway, this week DC has apparently decided to do something about this.
>> To keep people from flying up to the front of the line and sitting in
>>the gore MFFYing with their right blinker on, they have put in little
>>breakaway stand-up reflectors so that you can't cut across the gore
>>without running these reflectors down.
>
>
> I think I know the spot you're talking about. I'd place a bet on the
> lifetime of the reflectors, but they might already be down.

Oddly enough, people seem to be less willing to run down a little
plastic reflector than play chicken with another vehicle. Weird, that.

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

In article >, Nate Nagel wrote:

> Oddly enough, people seem to be less willing to run down a little
> plastic reflector than play chicken with another vehicle. Weird, that.

No matter what they do, the plastic reflector won't yield to them prior
to impact.

But I suspect they'll be knocked down fairly quickly as someone in a
beater SUV or a box truck will have no problem taking them out.

Jim Yanik wrote:
> Nate Nagel > wrote in
> :
>
> > As a lot of DC-area drivers probably know, one of the most frustrating
> > "exits" in the whole metro area is from the EB SE/SW freeway to
> > Pennsylvania Ave. As it's not really an exit at all, but the end of the
> > freeway, all traffic has to go onto Pennsylvania Ave. EB. However, the
> > leftmost lane of three turns into an access road for RFK stadium, but it
> > is signed that it is to only be used by emergency vehicles or for
> > stadium events. Not very well signed, but signed nonetheless. Since I
> > pass through this area several times a week, I know well in advance what
> > lane I should be in; however, some people apparently do not and attempt
> > to merge over at the last possible second. I can easily see how that
> > would happen, as I said, the signs are small and hard to read. However,
> > I suspect that the vast majority of drivers that sit in the gore waiting
> > to be let over are MFFYers because nobody in their right mind would be
> > on that road unless a) they knew exactly where they were going or b)
> > were hopelessly lost. (this is true for a lot of DC "freeways," one
> > wrong turn and you're in somewhere you *REALLY* don't want to be.)
> > Therefore, I (and other drivers) have made it a practice to hold station
> > a foot or two away from the bumper of the preceding car, which isn't
> > particularly safe, but necessary unless you want a flood of gore-cutters
> > to keep you from missing yet *another* light after you've already sat
> > patiently waiting your turn for 15 minutes or so.
> >
> > Anyway, this week DC has apparently decided to do something about this.
> > To keep people from flying up to the front of the line and sitting in
> > the gore MFFYing with their right blinker on, they have put in little
> > breakaway stand-up reflectors so that you can't cut across the gore
> > without running these reflectors down. This to me seems like a great
> > idea EXCEPT... what about the poor ******* that is only on the freeway
> > because he's lost, and/or is looking at a map and doesn't know ahead of
> > time what lane he's supposed to be in? The only real clue, until you
> > come around the last curve, is the fact that the lane line between the
> > leftmost lane and the middle lane is solid, and the two little signs
> > that say something like "left lane stadium traffic only" and are about
> > 24" square. By that point the right two lanes are packed solid and not
> > moving, so driver's aren't as likely to let a late merger over.
> > Wouldn't it have been more helpful as a part of this work to post a
> > large, clear sign (maybe using the wording "stadium exit only" instead?)
> > or painting the wording directly on the pavement in large letters so
> > it's clear to people that they need to get out of the left lane while
> > they still have a chance to do so?
> >
> > In any case it was pleasant the last few days not to have to ride the
> > bumper of the car in front of me to keep the MFFYers from making me sit
> > still through another light cycle.
> >
> > nate
> >
>
> Do you have a newspaper "road dog" consumer advocate?
>
> They check out things like this that readers send in,and get with the
> appropriate agency and suggests they do something to correct the situation.
> They could get better signage put up,change light timing or
> configurations,whatever is appropriate.
>

Not sure; I can look into it.

The *real* solution to the problem would be to improve the ramps on the
11th street bridge so that all NB 295 traffic wouldn't have to take PA
Ave. but that has been debated so many times and it doesn't look like
it will happen. Also a ramp from SB 295 to either the Sousa or 11th
St. bridge would be a huge bonus for many area commuters.

Anyway - an update; last night I went through there again, there's now
barrels on the service road side of the gore, so it looks like they are
closing off the gore completely. It was still somewhat light when I
went through there last night; it appears that someone has crashed
right into the guardrail at the "point" where the retaining wall starts
for the ramp, and the vehicle(s?) actually rode up on top of the fairly
high guardrail and bent the sign down at a significant angle. Maybe
this was the impetus for the new reflector barrier? must have been a
fairly high speed incident which is odd as traffic is usually dead
stopped here. If anyone wants to google for a report the intersection
is also known as Barney Circle.

nate

N8N wrote:
>
> The *real* solution to the problem would be to improve the ramps on the
> 11th street bridge so that all NB 295 traffic wouldn't have to take PA
> Ave. but that has been debated so many times and it doesn't look like
> it will happen. Also a ramp from SB 295 to either the Sousa or 11th
> St. bridge would be a huge bonus for many area commuters.
>
> nate
>

Nate,

You can look at the DDOT website (ddot.dc.gov) and look around for info
on the new ramps for the 11th St. Bridge. I don't have the time right
now, but I know Mayor Williams announced sometime late last year that
the study to add ramps for the missing movements is in full gear. I
wouldn't be surprised to see construction start in a few years down that
way.

--
All the best,
Geoff

N8N wrote:
>
> The *real* solution to the problem would be to improve the ramps on the
> 11th street bridge so that all NB 295 traffic wouldn't have to take PA
> Ave. but that has been debated so many times and it doesn't look like
> it will happen. Also a ramp from SB 295 to either the Sousa or 11th
> St. bridge would be a huge bonus for many area commuters.

Nate,

Here you go, this Saturday:
http://www.ddot.dc.gov/ddot/cwp/view...D%2C1610. asp

DDOT Holds Day-long Open House on Anacostia Transportation Projects

The following projects will be discussed: the rehabilitation and
replacement of the South Capitol Street/Fredrick Douglass Bridge; new
ramps for the 11th Street Bridge (the East Washington Project);
development proposals for Poplar Point and the St. Elizabeths Campus;
the renewal of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, SE, as part of the Great
Streets and Main Street programs; and the planned Anacostia Streetcar.

--
All the best,
Geoff

In article .com>, "N8N" > writes:
>
> Jim Yanik wrote:
>> Nate Nagel > wrote in
>> :
>>

[snipped story]

>>
>> Do you have a newspaper "road dog" consumer advocate?
>>
>> They check out things like this that readers send in,and get with the
>> appropriate agency and suggests they do something to correct the situation.
>> They could get better signage put up,change light timing or
>> configurations,whatever is appropriate.
>>
>
> Not sure; I can look into it.

Yep, "Dr. Gridlock" in the Washington Post. I don't know how effective
he is, but he's fun to read. He covers everything pertaining to transportation
in the area; lots and lots of Metro questions as well as car traffic.

- Sharon
"Gravity... is a harsh mistress!"