Posted: 7/24/2012 2:28:02 PM EDT
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Had to drive down to Richmond to go to the VA hospital for an appointment. Left early enough to get to the hospital over half an hour early only to run into a huge traffic jam. I had to reschedule the appointment after running almost 2 hours over the appointment time. Evidently there was some bridge construction going on and only one southbound lane was open. Is this construction going on still? I have to head back down there on Thursday for my rescheduled appointment and don't want to waste another quarter tank of gas and 4 hours of time to just get stuck in traffic.
And why the hell does VDOT think it's smart to shut down all but one lane on 95 during commuting hours? *sigh* |
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Not sure if your aware, But you can look at the traffic cams online.
http://www.511virginia.org/ |
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Plan routes that avoid I-95 through the city for a while...
http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/richmond/i-95_bridges.asp VDOT is replacing 11 bridges on I-95 in metro Richmond
This four year project covers a seven-mile stretch of I-95 between Lombardy Street in Richmond and Upham Brook in Henrico County. General roadway and under-bridge repairs (through 2012) COMPLETE––Southbound/northbound Laburnum Avenue bridge (Oct. 2011-April 2012) I-95 southbound bridges: ramp to Boulevard (April-May 2012), Westwood Avenue (May-June 2012), Boulevard (June 2012) and Hermitage Road (June-July 2012) I-95 northbound bridges: Hermitage Road, Boulevard, Westwood Avenue and the ramp to Boulevard (summer 2012) Overbrook Road, Sherwood Avenue and Robin Hood Road bridges (southbound bridges late summer-fall 2012; northbound bridges fall 2012) Lombardy Street/CSX bridge (southbound and northbound spring-fall 2013) Upham Brook (both north and southbound bridges early 2014) How will the four year construction project impact traffic? Our goal is to complete the project with as little motorist inconvenience as possible. Much of the foundation restoration to the piers and abutments from 2010 through 2012 will be done during the day and will require occasional single lane closures under the bridges and on I-95. Periodic double lane closures will also be required on I-95 overnight and some weekends. When beams and decks are replaced during the main construction phase – from October 2011 through fall 2014 – I-95 traffic will be reduced to one travel lane in each direction Sunday through Thursday nights from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. By working at night, we will impact fewer drivers and reduce motorist delays. I-95 ramps and city streets under the bridges will be closed periodically during bridge replacements. This will occur Sunday through Thursday nights from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. |
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Quoted:
Plan routes that avoid I-95 through the city for a while... http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/richmond/i-95_bridges.asp VDOT is replacing 11 bridges on I-95 in metro Richmond
This four year project covers a seven-mile stretch of I-95 between Lombardy Street in Richmond and Upham Brook in Henrico County. General roadway and under-bridge repairs (through 2012) COMPLETE––Southbound/northbound Laburnum Avenue bridge (Oct. 2011-April 2012) I-95 southbound bridges: ramp to Boulevard (April-May 2012), Westwood Avenue (May-June 2012), Boulevard (June 2012) and Hermitage Road (June-July 2012) I-95 northbound bridges: Hermitage Road, Boulevard, Westwood Avenue and the ramp to Boulevard (summer 2012) Overbrook Road, Sherwood Avenue and Robin Hood Road bridges (southbound bridges late summer-fall 2012; northbound bridges fall 2012) Lombardy Street/CSX bridge (southbound and northbound spring-fall 2013) Upham Brook (both north and southbound bridges early 2014) How will the four year construction project impact traffic? Our goal is to complete the project with as little motorist inconvenience as possible. Much of the foundation restoration to the piers and abutments from 2010 through 2012 will be done during the day and will require occasional single lane closures under the bridges and on I-95. Periodic double lane closures will also be required on I-95 overnight and some weekends. When beams and decks are replaced during the main construction phase – from October 2011 through fall 2014 – I-95 traffic will be reduced to one travel lane in each direction Sunday through Thursday nights from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. By working at night, we will impact fewer drivers and reduce motorist delays. I-95 ramps and city streets under the bridges will be closed periodically during bridge replacements. This will occur Sunday through Thursday nights from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Ugh... I guess I have to figure out another way to get down there. VDOT: You suck. |
| Well, checked traffic before I left and on my way via google maps and my Garmin. Besides an accident clean up it was smooth sailing. People at the hospital said the construction company had messed and not finished clean up. Evidently they got charged a decent amount of money for it. |
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You got caught at a bad time. The contractor was having trouble that evening and ran past the 6:00 AM deadline. They were fined $40,000.
http://wtvr.com/2012/07/20/vdot-fines-contractor-40000-for-i-95-backup/ There was another screw up a few weeks ago that wasn't the contractor's fault... a slow moving early AM thunderstorm shut down a portion of 95 for a few hours. USUALLY, USUALLY the construction isn't a huge deal as they have their act cleaned up by 6:00 and while it can be a little slow it's not nearly as bad as this last episode. |
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Quoted:
You got caught at a bad time. The contractor was having trouble that evening and ran past the 6:00 AM deadline. They were fined $40,000. http://wtvr.com/2012/07/20/vdot-fines-contractor-40000-for-i-95-backup/ There was another screw up a few weeks ago that wasn't the contractor's fault... a slow moving early AM thunderstorm shut down a portion of 95 for a few hours. USUALLY, USUALLY the construction isn't a huge deal as they have their act cleaned up by 6:00 and while it can be a little slow it's not nearly as bad as this last episode. Yeah it was pretty miserable. Not quite as bad as that ice storm a few years back that basically shutdown 95 from DC to Richmond, but it was definitely slow going. |