oh contraire!

IF you KNEW all paths were maxed BEFORE you departed – what would you do?

also – what would you do if you were headed north to south or vice versa and 100, 200 miles out – you saw this?

what if a 100-mile detour – saved you 3 hours?

I also think WAZE is part of a bigger thing – that other players will be involved and that there will be “competition” for whose data is “better” but also there will be partnerships between competitors to deliver more, better data over smaller competitors.

I also think – the traffic ops centers contracted out by VDOT have opportunities to put real-time “counters” on the roads that will add to, perhaps be better than the cell-phone counters …

finally, using the screen on a cell-phone to determine traffic conditions wile driving a car – is wrong on many levels.

why not a large dash screen that is connected by blue-tooth to your mobile phone?

your phone is likely to become your “internet” device for a car. The car has the screen and a computer but it’s only ‘live’ to the internet when you get in the car with your phone?

also..did you know – they are getting ready to release “apps” that turn your phone into a toll transponder?

but here’s a challenge question for folks.

when you get in a car and take your cell phone with you – and someone calls your phone – how does the cell phone system know where you are and what tower you’re are connected to?

if you know the answer to this- you also know how the govt can track you unless you turn off your phone. How many people who have cell phones are realistically going to turn them off?

and if you REALLY want to get paranoid… look up “stingray” :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingray_phone_tracker

I believe the storm water from the urbanized areas is far more a bigger percentage of the problem but even if one thinks AG is a big contributor, isn’t what AG produces basically for folks in the urban areas – the population?

isn’t the power and the food that cities need “externalized” to places outside the city?

no?

I see the issue on the Eastern side… probably too far even if they come north just east of the River -up Rt20 then northwest.

for the bigger picture – I don’t dispute anything you say about how the project has been conducted. This is classic VDOT no matter who the Gov or head VDOT guy is… this is the way they do business on most roads like this.

this is why I support a full and complete NEPA to look at all reasonable options (usually 3-5) and to show the costs, the benefits and the advantages, disadvantages.

I also do subscribe to the idea of “induced” traffic – in terms of what is known as “latent demand” which basically means if you build more roads more people will use them more often rather than stay off of them at the busiest times unless they have no choice. That’s the problem in NoVa. As soon as you build more roads – they are almost instantly engulfed in the same rush hour traffic that other roads have.

but my understanding was that the basic premise of this road was to give north/south travellers who were not local – the opportunity to get through Charlottesville without getting bogged down in local traffic, especially at rush hour.

if that was the sole premise for this road – and nothing else – and it had only interchanges at the termini – would you still be opposed and if so, why?

The Fiscal Benefits of Smart Growth -

There are none. End of article.

There is a proposal being considered by the County to take over management of storm water facilities and bill the costs to taxpayers. A couple of engineers have told me that this cost could require as much as an additional four to five cents on the tax rate. This seems excessive to me, especially when the legislation ignores most of the damage caused in rural areas.

BTW, average wages and salaries paid in Fairfax County are down 2.5% from 3Q11 to 3Q12. I stick with my priorities.

yes, that’s the Eastern Bypass (or Connector) BUT to get to it from U.S. 29 in the south, a truck would have to drive east on I-64 for at least 10 miles and then another 10 miles northwest back to 29 again. Because this is very unlikely, there is no downstate enthusiasm/money/power/corruption pushing for the Eastern Connector. Neither is there pressure from Richmond because the rail “Heartland Corridor” (paid for by Virginia taxpayers) is already taking thousands of trucks off I-64. (The Rail Enhancement Act is a very interesting program by the way). There is little “need” for faster driving from Richmond towards the northwest when trucks are declining because the REA is double-stacking trucks at the port in Norfolk onto rail and then downloading them in Columbus, OH and other Mid-West communities. Since most traffic on 29N are heading to D.C., Boston, etc. an Eastern Connector offers virtually nothing (similar to Western “Bypass” but money and rotten politics and perhaps corruption are pushing the Western Bypass.)

Please look at the map, notice that 29N slants significantly northeast and I think that will become clear, Larryg.

Still, the point that EVERYONE in Virginia should note is that politics and big money are trying to force taxpayers to pay three times as much money for the so-called Western “Bypass” than an already-approved project which does more for congestion and more for safety. Tell your delegates and your senators to ASK about the wasted money down in Charlottesville.

But there is no downstate loudmouth named steve Newman convincing hapless constituents that “bypassing” Charlottesville will solve their lack of manufacturing jobs to the south east of Charlottesville. Newman, of course, is chair of the senate transport committee.

The Eastern Bypass is still on the books but, as this “bypass” fight illustrates convincingly, only political highways can find funding in Virginia today.