In the nearly five years I have been living and/or commuting in Virginia, I have written about the horrors of Route 28 which transits north/south from Route 7 in Sterling to Route 17 near Bealton. The drivers seem to be insane; changing lanes at the last minute to exit, changing lanes for no reason at all, driving slowly in the fast lane, etc.
Over the years, VDOT (Virginia Department of Transportation for those of you aren’t from the area) has done much to alleviate the congestion on this road most of which has involved overpasses and a fairly ingenious stoplight/traffic pattern at Braddock Road near Route 66. I will not speak for the nightmare of 28 South of Centreville because I don’t have to use it daily. If I did, I’d have killed myself and not written this rant.
Today, while having a beer at the aforementioned Applebees, which I never need to go to again, I heard that one of the three last major overpasses on Route 28 had been completed. One of them was finished up a few weeks ago. It was the last light prior to reaching Route 7 heading north…at Nokes Boulevard, which provides access to the Dulles Town Center Mall. There were two lights prior to that, one of which, Severn Way, provided access to my last employer. That light is now gone and the road is blocked. Now those who wish access to entities on Severn Way have to go round robin to get to the plant from Route 28.
The other light in that area seem superfluous but provides access/egress to a parking lot on the Washington and Old Dominion trail. We’ll see how long that light lasts…
The ugliness truly still exists at rush hour traveling south on Route 28 to Route 66 which is a major east/west artery in the western D.C. suburbs. Route 28 was already backing up from the Route 66 ramps to where the new overpass was just completed at Willard Road. Now, without the stoplight, all traffic is free to cruise under the overpass and back things up even further from Route 66, probably to Route 50 and points north.
This was all predicted by yours truly and others familiar with the commute. If you take out a bunch of stoplights that, albeit annoying, meter the traffic on the route, it is all going to get jammed up even worse at the next choke point(s). In this case, the choke points are: a worthless traffic light giving access to a recreational field (Ellanor C. Lawrence Park) for northbound traffic and a required light giving access to Braddock Road for northbound traffic.
And so to get to the point, I wasn’t even on Route 28 and I was afflicted. Coming out of the shopping area I was in, I tried to take a left onto Westfields Boulevard which crosses route 28 between the newly opened overpass and the Route 66. Traffic was backed up on my side for people trying to merge on to 28 south. Traffic was backed up across from me for people trying to merge on to Westfields Boulevard east to get to 28 south. Traffic was backed up on Westfields Boulevard heading SW for people trying to get to Route 29 South on a shortcut to bypass the backup on 28 south to Routes 28 and 66. Can you say goat rope?