Posted on 07/13/2009 6:27:35 AM PDT by La Lydia
Virginia is trying to pull a fast one on motorists who live along the Interstate 95/395 corridor, and we all will be moving slower and paying more as a result...The latest plan effectively hands ownership of Interstate 95/395 to a foreign corporation for the next 80 years. Transurban Group, Melbourne, Australia, will lease the existing high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes for the 64-mile stretch between Spotsylvania, Va., and the Pentagon. Transurban will be responsible for building new access ramps and performing maintenance for the lanes. Drivers interested in a congestion-free ride can pay an expected $1 - or more - per mile to use the HOT lanes while the regular lanes are gridlocked...
The devil is in the details...The Beltway gets new lane construction where it is needed most; 95/395 does not. Instead, between Garrisonville Road and the Pentagon, three lanes will be squeezed into the existing two-lane space...
The commuter who undertakes the 64-mile journey from Spotsylvania would pay a shocking $33,280 each year to use the toll lanes...common commutes from a town such as Dumfries would cost drivers $8,840 each year...adjusting upward for inflation...
...Only those who register for and install a special car-pool tracking device will be allowed into HOT lanes...Because it is in Transurban's interest to minimize the number of nonpaying customers, VDOT agreed to contract language that will actively discourage ride sharing on the Beltway....
...According to the Beltway contract, Virginia taxpayers are on the hook once again if, between now and 2087, improvements are made to free, non-tolled roads in the vicinity of the toll lanes. These agreements ensure that the toll-road company will enjoy a monopoly at taxpayer expense...free roads will be neglected and not expanded to create congestion that will force motorists into the tolled lanes...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Is that the queen?
Remember, you are the one who thought the person was talking about Ashburn even when they had stated Ashland. If you are talking about ASHBURN then I believe you. If you are talking about downtown RICHMOND, then you made it up to cover your lack of knowledge about Virginia.
Jefferson must be proud of his beloved Commonwealth.
You gotta’ be starting out over near Fairfax City or something. I’m talking about hitting I-95 right at the exit at the gastanks at Newington and cruising right on down to the Main Post Office parking lot.
muawiyah is a fool. He is someone who is clueless about Virginia, gets Ashland and Ashburn hopelessly confused as well as not recognizing Mechanicsville. If anyone was truly knowledgeable of Virginia, they would have known immediately that Mechanicsville is in the Richmond area. It has its own zip code and mailing address in the Richmond area and everything!!
There may be other places referred to in Virginia as Mechanicsville, but the one I have heard my whole life and other people refer to is in the Richmond area.
What is so laughable is that he continues to insist he can drive from Springfield to downtown Richmond in under an hour.
It can't be done. The distance is about 90 miles or so and since I have driven this route hundreds and hundreds of times the last 25 years, I know it can't be done.
This person insists that there are back roads he knows about. The only alternative is Route 1, which is slower and not faster, particularly between Springfield and Fredericksburg. There is only ONE alternative north-south route and that is Route 1.
Usually, when someone like muawiyah has been proven a fool, they usually just fade away from a thread, cease and desist from further comment. This guy is not only a fraud, he is arrogant since he insists he is right because of those back roads. I won't even comment when he says the actual amount of through traffic on the Washington Beltway is 2% because we all know that is hilariously ridiculous.
Perhaps, I should just count my blessings and be thankful that I don't have to commute on his back roads, work with him or have him for a neighbor.
Nice knowing you. (IBTZ).
You ahve to drive from your office through McClean down the Beltway, zigzag through the Mixing Bowl to get to Shirley Highway going South, and all of that takes that 92 miles and shrinks it down to a more realistic 79 miles from my house to the Richmond main post office (which is at the Southwestern fringe of what is arguably downtown Richmond). Takes another 5 miles to get from there to "wherever" in the maze of bizarre office buildings in the state capitol area of Richmond.
The 92 mile distance measurement is made from DC to the Capitol building, so it's probably more like 92 miles less 13 miles less 14 miles (DC to my house) less 5 miles to go the 60 miles I said I traveled.
Don't you newspaper guys know how to read maps yet?
It's quite easy to drive 60 miles in an hour or less on a wide open Interstate highway.
Why someone could turn my original post into a vendetta speaks volume's about that someone.
Toll roads would solve a lot of problems.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.