HOV Traffic Waits for No Man, Even the President

The Washington Post ^ | 8/25/06 | Michael D. Shear

[steve-b]

Wouldn't it be nice to have the highway all to yourself? All alone during rush hour, whizzing down Interstate 395 with not a single car or bus to get in your way? Alas, even the leader of the free world doesn't get that kind of treatment.

Not that he didn't ask.

On Tuesday, the Secret Service asked Virginia officials if they would be kind enough to shut down all of the HOV lanes on I-395 from 1 to 7 p.m. the next day so President Bush could get where he needed to be, according to state officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of discussing the president's travel.

The request was made ahead of a fundraiser for Sen. George Allen (R) held at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at a house near Mount Vernon -- a good hour's drive from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. during a typical rush hour....

[steve-b]

Yeesh. If they'd done that, Bush and Allen would have been crucified by enraged commuters.

[twigs]

I don't know what they were thinking of to even ask that. I assume that the security for the president is extremely tight right now, but politically in a country like ours, you just can't do some things. Traffic in that area is bad enough as it is. Taking a helicopter in was the right thing to do.

[trumandogz]

Seems to me that a highway being closed for six hours is a small price to pay for the protection of this President in a time of War.


We mus continue to be vigilant.

[mysterio]

Take a helicoptor or get stuck in traffic like the rest of us.

[chainsaw]

I thought we bought the president helicopters for just that reason.

[gieriscm]

Saw this story on the local tv news last week. Commuters were PO'ed that President Bush had even made the request. He's been in this area long enough to know better... and if he hasn't, then the Allen campaign staff should certainly have known better!

[catbertz]

We pay plenty of money for that awesome fleet of choppers, so let the POTUS fly in. It's cooler to watch anyway.

[steve-b]

I don't know what they were thinking of to even ask that.

If it were any outfit but the Secret Service (who, if nothing else, surely regards the current occupants of the White House as an improvement over their lamp-throwing predecessors), I'd suspect a Democratic mole.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Agreed. Politically, it would have been a boner move.

[steve-b]

and if he hasn't, then the Allen campaign staff should certainly have known better!

Yep. If this had happened, he'd be wishing for the good old days when "macaca" was his worst PR problem.

[ElkGroveDan]

I've driven as part of one of those presidential convoys before. It's really cool.

Right through the heart of rush-hour LA, after the 1992 riots with GH Bush. There was the president's limo, the governor's limo and then about 20 vans with press corps. I got to drive the first van with CNN's crew in it.

I was told to watch the brake lights of the car in front of me and nothing else and stay right behind it. We came racing out of LAX and down Manchester at like 55 MPH and then on to the empty 405 and then up the 110 into down town. CHP holding back traffic the entire way.

That's one of those things everyone should do at least once in their life.

[middie]

Properly so !!

[rivercat]

It didn't stop Klintoon in 96 when he came to Hawaii for the VJ Day anniversary. They would shut down the entire freeway so he could go sightseeing, when he could have just taken a helicopter.

[Dixie Yooper]

Highway?

I395 is an interstate with 4 lanes running south, 4 lanes running north and 2 HOV lanes running in between that change directions depending on the time to day. If everyone gridlocked to 2 or more hours would have looked over and seen a black limousine heading south in the HOV lanes with American flags waving from the fenders along with 8 or 9 black suburbans, the state of Virginia would be under hard democratic rule for the next 10 years. I bet some stupid staffer wanting to impress someone made the call to VDOT.

[Suzy Quzy]

I don NOT believe that they asked for a 6 HOUR shut down!! For pete's sake even CLINTON's Secret service wouldn't have done that. Faux facts.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

It does seem like Marine One would have been the best choice, although more expensive than in a car.
I used to use the HOV lanes on 95, also, I slugged for 3 years. God bless the HOV lanes.

[Fudd]

For pete's sake even CLINTON's Secret service wouldn't have done that.

Yet I seem to remember CLINTON's AF1 blocking traffic on the ground at LAX (I think) while the old stainmaster got his hair cut...

[Redbob]

"...Secret Service asked Virginia officials if they would be kind enough to shut down all of the HOV lanes on I-395 from 1 to 7 p.m. the next day so President Bush could get where he needed to be,..."

They used to have that sort of system in Moscow...

[steve-b]

True.

And when they heard on the news that it was for an Allen fundraiser, that would have been the end of his chance to get reelected.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

They used to have that sort of system in Moscow...

Exactly - if there's one thing the US doesn't need, it's politicians driving roads emptied for their convenience. Personally, I'd prefer that my elected officials waste their time in the same traffic jams I do - maybe they'd get off their collective butts and increase freeway capacity.