Traffic

[Robert S.]

[tsap seui]

LOL Robert....gee, that looks like the parking lot in Maryland called I-270 heading down to the other parking lot around DC called 495. 495 stays busy all day long then the traffic reverses in the late afternoon.

 

What a way of life.

 

And the reason I sold my business down in the parking lot and moved into the mountains 100 miles away, where a traffic jamb is more than 2 cars at a stop sign.

 

tsap seui

[RobertH]

LOL Robert....gee, that looks like the parking lot in Maryland called I-270 heading down to the other parking lot around DC called 495. 495 stays busy all day long then the traffic reverses in the late afternoon.

 

What a way of life.

 

And the reason I sold my business down in the parking lot and moved into the mountains 100 miles away, where a traffic jamb is more than 2 cars at a stop sign.

 

tsap seui

 

He means mules. Not car's

[tsap seui]

Yessuh, I meant mules and old nags....we'un is WAY out in the country....proud to say, 100 miles and 100 years away from Washington, DC...or ground zero as we called it.

[knloregon]

Hard to believe that, Tsap, sure, its been 30 years since I've been on I-270 ----but is it really that bad??

 

When I was a Lad, I-270 had the reputation of a highway always under construction-----so I felt right at home when I moved to Portland, and the western route, 26, (similar to I-270) ---was always under construction as well! I swear, when I arrived in 1978, until about last year, the western corridor of route 26 ("the sunset highway") was ALWAYS under construction... Now the construction has moved further west...

[Guest ExChinaExpat]

Haha.

 

The video is a perfect example of what I see every single day at so many intersections in China. People ignore red lights; then vehicles get pinned in an intersection trying to cross only to wind up blocking traffic. It makes you appreciate countries that not only have traffic laws, but enforce them too.

[tsap seui]

Hard to believe that, Tsap, sure, its been 30 years since I've been on I-270 ----but is it really that bad??

 

When I was a Lad, I-270 had the reputation of a highway always under construction-----so I felt right at home when I moved to Portland, and the western route, 26, (similar to I-270) ---was always under construction as well! I swear, when I arrived in 1978, until about last year, the western corridor of route 26 ("the sunset highway") was ALWAYS under construction... Now the construction has moved further west...

 

Kim, my brother from the glorious dayz of old. Let me use an exclamatory Aussie sentence...Bloody oath, I'm fairdinkum mate as I sit here all nekked before God, Queen and country and tell you 270 is a wankers parking lot in the mornings and evenings.

 

And it gits worse cuzin', Bob is NOT yer Uncle in this one....to access that parkin' lot called I-270 I lived and ran my business only 4 miles up track called route 27 (the Damascus exit)....shucks buddy, most dayz it only took 1/2 hour to gits down to I-270 !!!

 

I remember back in the mid 90's I think it wuz, they had a big taa-do and opened up two more lanes of the parkin' lot called I-270....I think the dadgum govenator even came out and took a leak off one the the bridges, he wuz tht excited about the whole thing.

 

The workers had spent years makin' life miserable for commuters....and now....drumroll please...they wuz gonna make life a wee bit saner for us heathens in the parkin' lot.

 

Yes Kim, things got much better for us'in....FOR TWO (count em both please) DAYZ. Then it went back to exactly where it had been.....only...now you had two more lanes of cars to watch people shavin', puttin' on their lipstick, and read the Washington Post as you waited and waited. Such a joke, I tells ya. TWO DAMN DAYZ of sensibility.

 

I read or heard somewhere that the beltway and routes in Merryland and that awful jungle called Northern Virginia which lead into it were rated teh 4th most conjested commutes in the nation.

 

My condolences go out to the poor saps who live in numbers one, two, and three.

 

How ya doin' Kim? Kids okay, momma happy, life givin' ya a tickle each day?

 

tsap seui

[2mike&jin]

Anecdotal answers to some of the implied information:

 

http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/transportation/top-10-most-congested-cities-in-us/1026

 

Anecdotal Stories to above:

(1) My friend retired from the Pentagon based on Washington D.C. Northeren VA. traffic after he left the Pentagon one afternoon because of a snowstorm, abou the time he got to the beltway at 7 PM, he parked his car on the side of HWY 95, walked home - got home about 1:00 AM, prompltly turned in his retirement papers as soon as he could retrieve his car - some four days later.

 

(2) I had a meeting at IBM Gaitherburg in the 80's, sleet/rain on the 270 - I had a plane to catch at National Aiprort - 5 hours later I arrived in City Center - of course plane is still there - because they can't take off.....this all prompted me, when I had to move to Washington, to buy a Condo in Crystal City, eventually Run my business in an office in Crystal City, and take the Metro everywhere I went in the DC area, during the winter.

 

I complain about traffic in Honolulu - but in short it is mild compared to other regions and the worst of it is because of "Over Curtious" drivers. They will actualy stop on the highway to let someone enter the road...from a 90 degree 50 foot merge lane. This has the exact effect one would anticipate - stop and go, the second issue is too many cars, too few roads, and no alternatives.

 

Bottom line, I really enjoy my 5-6 months a year in my Reno/Lake Tahoe house - which has Zero Traffic, wide lanes, efficient lights, and FAST drivers. (Not to mention the cheap Electric and Natural Gas Utility Rates)

[dnoblett]

Oh I know full well to stay away from the DC Beltway any time of day.

 

In my trips down to Myrtle Beach, the GPS and mapping software always tries routing me through Harrisburg PA down to DC, and then around the beltway to I-95. I ALWAYS run I-81 down to I-66 East then south on US 17 to I-95.

[tsap seui]

Anecdotal answers to some of the implied information:

 

http://www.smartplan...ties-in-us/1026

 

Anecdotal Stories to above:

(1) My friend retired from the Pentagon based on Washington D.C. Northeren VA. traffic after he left the Pentagon one afternoon because of a snowstorm, abou the time he got to the beltway at 7 PM, he parked his car on the side of HWY 95, walked home - got home about 1:00 AM, prompltly turned in his retirement papers as soon as he could retrieve his car - some four days later.

 

(2) I had a meeting at IBM Gaitherburg in the 80's, sleet/rain on the 270 - I had a plane to catch at National Aiprort - 5 hours later I arrived in City Center - of course plane is still there - because they can't take off.....this all prompted me, when I had to move to Washington, to buy a Condo in Crystal City, eventually Run my business in an office in Crystal City, and take the Metro everywhere I went in the DC area, during the winter.

 

I complain about traffic in Honolulu - but in short it is mild compared to other regions and the worst of it is because of "Over Curtious" drivers. They will actualy stop on the highway to let someone enter the road...from a 90 degree 50 foot merge lane. This has the exact effect one would anticipate - stop and go, the second issue is too many cars, too few roads, and no alternatives.

 

Bottom line, I really enjoy my 5-6 months a year in my Reno/Lake Tahoe house - which has Zero Traffic, wide lanes, efficient lights, and FAST drivers. (Not to mention the cheap Electric and Natural Gas Utility Rates)

 

Settin' up shop in Crystal City makes perfect sense to me Mike. Inside, and outside the beltway is a great place to make money, but brother, nothing about that area is fit for human life....well, any sort of "quality of life" that is.

 

Dan, you is one smart man to avoid that section of 95 around the east side of the beltway. Heck, the "mixing bowl" just south of Alexandria is nothing but horrible. My crews and I worked all over the west side of the beltway, northern Virginia, suburban Merryland, and even into Baltimore. We were a referral only business and the word spread, so to speak. It was just hell racin' from one job to the next and stayin' on time for "Mrs Piffleton". Scheduling was a magic trick.

[dnoblett]

3-year-old boy crosses busy intersection on toy scooter

 

http://p2.img.cctvpic.com/program/china24/20120525/images/1337910728018_1337910728018_r.jpg

 

A surveillance camera in Wenzhou city, Zhejiang province, captured a startling moment on Monday: a 3-year-old boy crossing a busy intersection on his toy scooter. Luckily the child was spotted by a police officer who led him to safety.

 

The incident happened during rush hour at around 5.30 pm. The 3-year-old boy said he was "not scared" by the traffic when asked by the policemen. His grandfather who looks after the boy said that the child went missing when he went to the bathroom.

 

http://english.cntv.cn/program/china24/20120525/103686.shtml (China viewable video)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4UlG0RFODk