Beltway Express Lanes open
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| The view north from Gallows Road. |
As the
top picture shows (taken from the Gallows Road overpass at about 8:30 a.m. Nov.
19), the beltway was flowing smoothly at that particular point in time, and very few cars were on the Express Lanes on the left. This morning was the first rush hour since the toll
roads opened early Saturday morning.
The Washington Post reported later that there was a four-car collision at around 6 a.m. near the Braddock Road entrance to the beltway and that there were six accidents, all at that location, since the Express Lanes opened.
Tim Steinhilber, Transurban’s general manager for the 495 Express Lanes Project, acknowledged the problem, stating, “We are currently looking to make enhancements where there has been driver confusion in the Springfield interchange area at the southern end of the Express Lanes.”
The merge areas will be extended and drivers will be alerted sooner about the entrance to the Express Lanes at the Springfield interchange. In addition, new pavement markings saying “E-ZPass Only” will be added approximately one mile and again one half mile before Express Lanes entrances.
The merge areas will be extended and drivers will be alerted sooner about the entrance to the Express Lanes at the Springfield interchange. In addition, new pavement markings saying “E-ZPass Only” will be added approximately one mile and again one half mile before Express Lanes entrances.
Virginia
State Police are urging drivers not to back up they get on the Express
Lanes by mistake. If that happens, the best thing to do is continue
until the next exit and pay the toll online.
With
the beltway uncrowded, you’d expect the tolls to be at the lowest rate. Drivers
heading toward the beltway from central Annandale this morning would have seen
from the sign posted next to Woodburn Elementary School (below) that the toll was 35
cents to I-66, 65 cents to Westpark Drive (a new exit point in Tysons Corner after
Route 7), and $1.10 to “I-495-N,” which apparently means the end of the Express
Lanes after the Dulles Toll Road.
the beltway uncrowded, you’d expect the tolls to be at the lowest rate. Drivers
heading toward the beltway from central Annandale this morning would have seen
from the sign posted next to Woodburn Elementary School (below) that the toll was 35
cents to I-66, 65 cents to Westpark Drive (a new exit point in Tysons Corner after
Route 7), and $1.10 to “I-495-N,” which apparently means the end of the Express
Lanes after the Dulles Toll Road.
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| The sign alerting drivers to beltway toll amounts. |
When
the beltway traffic is heavy, like it probably will be later this week as
people head out of town for Thanksgiving (and many people will be confused
about the new system), the tolls will likely rise to the maximum amount, which
would be $1.25 a mile. Traveling the entire 14-mile length of the Express Lanes
would then cost as much as $17.50. Transurban has the option of raising the
tolls at any time during its 75-year contract.
the beltway traffic is heavy, like it probably will be later this week as
people head out of town for Thanksgiving (and many people will be confused
about the new system), the tolls will likely rise to the maximum amount, which
would be $1.25 a mile. Traveling the entire 14-mile length of the Express Lanes
would then cost as much as $17.50. Transurban has the option of raising the
tolls at any time during its 75-year contract.