I-95 Northern Virginia

[tehcoalition]

Hey Jim, we got the 4th lane open now after Fort Belvior. It definitely helps during normal traffic...rush hour is a different story. Even 16 lanes 1 direction wouldn't help in DC that way.

[Thoughtfulguy68]

Regarding HOT Lanes: 95 south of DC into Virginia is a beehive of construction, and not a very nice place to drive right now. My current understanding of the HOT Lane concept is that there will be no limit to the toll charged for single or double occupant vehicles -as congestion increases, the toll to use the lanes will increase proportionately, thus reducing congestion by cost. Vehicles with 3 or more occupants will travel for free.

[Thoughtfulguy68]

What I lament most about the widening of The Capital Beltway is the destruction of the forestation that surrounds the highway. Yes, the road has always been plagued with heavy traffic, but we used to have pleasant trees to look at as we sat in congestion. As a long-time resident, I am very sorry to see the trees being plowed away.

[Thoughtfulguy68]

Hi, I'm a Washingtonian, and I last commented on this video 1 year ago regarding the amazing HOT lane activity going on around the DC region. Currently, the inner and outer loops of the Virginia portion of the Capital Beltway are a mess of bulldozers, lane closures, and dangerous lane shifts amongst a bleak landscape of red clay dirt and heavy machinery -

[MyMultimedia]

Message to Freewayjim

As with many videos, viewers enjoy the quality of them. I especially enjoy the DC area videos since there's a lot of future improvement. However, there is one suggestion I have for your DC area videos.

I suggest when you drive to or through the Washington metro area you can use local music for these videos. For many of your other videos (e.g. I-278 East, Brooklyn, New York) you did use local music so why not the same for the DC area?

Please reply if you agree. Thank you.

[Freewayjim]

@MyMultimedia I use what I feel fits the footage, if it happens to be a local act so be it, I'm not purposely slighting DC area talent and with kind of music I use I'm not if I know of any.

[ArtificialBanana]

@Freewayjim This is a great song and I knew you would use it eventually! :-)

[dmdyno]

Freeway jim got a new camera..  Looks good

[Freewayjim]

@dmdyno -Thanks, yeah that was last summer.

[Digatone]

Me and my family finally made it home to Northern Virginia. It was back in the 90's when I use to live in Northern Virginia

[dusfermc]

Nice Vid. Unfortuneately I know this route all too much, and traffic was very light when you fillmed this.

[ReliantBroadcasting]

My bad..... I just read through the older comments, and mudfroggie had already said the same thing about Shirley Hwy. I didn't mean to double-post the same topic.

Great video again.

:)

[ReliantBroadcasting]

Oops.... sorry, Jim, but you made a mistake at 0:51 by saying the road first opened in 1965.

That section of I-95 pre-dates the Interstate System; it's part of the Henry G. Shirley Memorial Hwy, which is 17.3 miles of I-95 and I-395. It was completed in sections between 1944 and 1952. When it originally opened, it was named VA Rt-350, and between 1965 and 1975 it was re-designed to meet Interstate standards, and then named I-95. In 1977 the section inside the Beltway was renamed to I-395.

:)

[VaFreeways]

It's extremely unusual in the middle of summer in dc to have a day where the sky is that clear, so-to-speak. Usually its choked with haze to accompany the heat and humidity. If I were to have filmed that stretch of highway today it wouldn't have looked nearly as good as this because of the haze obscuring visibility. This looks more like late September than July - last summer was abnormally cool.

[lintownboy]

amazing quality, very good job jim...

Here in california you can see more things from the freeway, much different from what i am seeing here =)

keep it up!!!

[Freewayjim]

@lintownboy: Thank you!

[Thoughtfulguy68]

Forgive me, I'm ranting and I can't shut up!!! -These "HOT" lanes will require extensive alterations to the Springfield interchange -a project that took 8 years to complete, and was and was the most expensive highway reconfiguration project in US history. Construction was (finally) finished 2 years ago; now VDOT is preparing to rebuild it to accommodate the new lanes.

Love your videos Freeway!

[Freewayjim]

Thanks!

Wasn't the Springfield Interchange designed to accommodate future HOV/HOT lanes in the first place?

[Thoughtfulguy68]

I was incorrect to use the term rebuilding; from what I understand, there will be periodic closures while new roadways are put into place. There is an interesting website called vamegaprojects -It contains a wealth of information on Virginia highway history and future planning, photography, and cool facts and statistics. (Looks like several counties in Northern VA are already have political differences regarding HOT lanes)

[Thoughtfulguy68]

More from me: The "High Occupancy Transit" lanes are being constructed from points on the beltway in Virginia to 95 northbound and southbound creating new 12 and 10 lane highways. These "HOT" lanes are supposed to be "congestion free", with a guaranteed minimum speed of 45 MPH at all times. If you are a single driver, the toll will be $1 per mile traveled; if you have 3 or more passengers, travel is free. Washingtonians have already dubbed this dubious project "The Lexus Lanes" hmmm...

[Thoughtfulguy68]

Just drove this route this afternoon! I was northbound at around 5:30; heavy traffic but no delays. Southbound was another story: jammed really tight from Springfield to Stafford because of an accident that happened around 1:30 -a good solid 34 miles of tightly packed traffic. -Construction has commenced on widening 95 from 6 lanes to 10 from Springfield to points past Fredericksburg -these will be called HOT lanes, toll or "high occupancy" only. I'm curious how this will work out.

[trashdunka99]

if i ever wanted to go down to norfolk and virginia beach, from where i live, i would avoid this interchange altogether by using rt. 15 and rt. 17 to connect to I-95 in Fredericksburg. the traffic is just terrible going through dc

[edmedellin]

the 4 pictures where  is each picture

[Freewayjim]

Up Left-Fort Pitt Bridge Pittsburgh

Low Left I-93 Franconia Notch NH

Up Right - The High Vive in Dallas

Low Right - I-93 Central Artery Tunnel-Boston

[mudfroggie]

At 0:51, you refer to the route opening in 1965. The segment you videoed actually opened in the early 1950s (ca. 1952) as the VA 350 Shirley Highway...one of the first freeway-style routes in Virginia. It was in the mid-60s when it was renumbered as I-95.

Also agree with jerseyman4 that the secondary routes (642, 644, 7100) are more properly labeled as "SR" vice "VA".

[Freewayjim]

I was not sure the Shirley Highway began that far down, I'm like such a lousy roadgeek.

Also dually noted on the VA-SR numbers, what can I say, I'm just an ignorant tourist.

[assaultislove]

Great Video, but I just want to agree with others that I HATE 95 in NoVA. I was just up there last week and hit a nasty traffic jam from Occoquan to Lorton at 11 AM on a Friday morning. And hit traffic from Woodbridge to Dumfries on the way back down to Atlanta. HATE HATE HATE!

[pionnergc]

Traffic at the 130 A-B exit is crazy along VA I-95. We're right in the middle of going to Richmond and DC and no matter which way in rush hour we're stuck in the traffic. Thanks for the video man, I head up this way just about every weekend...and I've got my Learners Permit.

[pionnergc]

And forgot to mention, if you look at the sky, it's perfect scenery for the video. You went up there with perfect timing! ;)

[techman224]

Hey Jim, the next time you are in the Northern Virginia, could you film the HOV lanes in between I-95/I-395. I found out on the VDOT website that the lanes are open to all traffic in certain hours. I could give you the link if you want the info.

[Freewayjim]

I am always looking for that opportunity, I think it would be neat. If they are open when I go through the area I'll get them.

[udigginme24]

wow u sure do kno america wish u were my dad lol

[90rock]

Hey Jim, this is my native territory. Typical behavior: an endless line of left lane hogs and aggressive drivers like the Acura at 1:13. Bugs the hell out of me.

[Freewayjim]

I see the same things every year when I come up this way, amazing!

[jerseyman4]

The Virginia primary routes are 1-599 (895 is a primary route in Richmond). You may want to list the 600+ routes as "SR 6XX" or "Virginia Secondary 6XX".

Vid was nice otherwise (hate driving thru that area).

[esposimi]

We drove on this road on that same day coming up from Florida around 8:30 AM.

[JcBrooks651]

is it like this all across the north east (the drivers) or is it just D.C area?

[Freewayjim]

It's pretty much a northeast thing IMO but the DC area & NYC are worst than most.

[Rollin558]

Thanks, Jim. I lived in that area for many years, right off the Franconia-Springfield exit. Kinda miss it, but not much.

[EuropaAmerica7]

Typical I-95 in Northern Virginia traffic. Passing on the right. Scooting across two or more lanes at the same time. A directional/turn signal/blinker - what's that? (The car companies should offer a "Virginia package," deleting that little thingy on the left of every steering wheel).

I'm from Massachusetts. At least SOME people use their directionals there.

[Freewayjim]

You know it's bad (and deservedly so) when a Mass driver criticizes the driving :)

[MazdaStrider]

WOW! That black car.. darn. I hate drivers like this

[vbdenny]

My wife put one of our cars backwards into the way at 1:46 a couple years ago. Black ice. Hey Jim, you videos keep getting better.

[Freewayjim]

Thanks Denny ;)

[CosmoPhotography]

Yet another awesome job! I've been waiting for you to do this in HD. God, check out the black Acura TL fly over three lanes! Driving is unreal up there.

[Bryant5493]

Yeah, when I saw that, I was like... damn!

[JcBrooks651]

yea what time of day was that, also was it a weekday or a weekend?

[Freewayjim]

I filmed that on a Saturday around Noon

[Freewayjim]

That's typical of the traffic in that area.

[JcBrooks651]

lol first one to rate :) 1:15 look at the black car in the left lane tailgating the sh!t out of that blue car