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Potholes Driving You Crazy?
This year, we have been barraged with potholes due to all the extreme winter weather. These potholes not only drive us crazy because they keep our wheel alignments hopelessly out of whack, but there are so many of them that they are almost impossible to avoid!
Some unfortunate souls have even experienced tire blowouts or worse because of these nuisances. You may be able to get the city/county to pay for the damage if you make a claim.
It could take a while to fix them all, so we’ll have to exercise some patience (and maybe just put an extra wheel alignment in the budget for the next couple of months). Feel free to vent about your personal experiences or ones you’ve witnessed in the comments section.
To aid the entire effort, please see some online resources you can use to report those nasty, pesky, awful potholes. When filing your report, please provide the precise location, a picture (if possible), and the severity of the potholes.
Vaya con Dios!
D.C. (DDOT)
Dial 202-727-1000 or311 (if dialing from within the city), fill out an online request, or tweet @DDOTDC.
Maryland (State Highway Administration)
If the road is a numbered route such as Rte. 355, 117, please contact Maryland State Highway at 301-513-7300. You can also fill out an online request.
Montgomery County
See Maryland State Highway Administration above. You can also call the County at 240-777-0311 or 311 if you are calling from within the county. Or fill out an online request.
Prince George’s County
See Maryland State Highway Administration above. To report a pothole on a County maintained road, please call 301-499-8520 or fill out an online request.
Baltimore City (BCDOT)
Use Facebook, Twitter, call 311, or fill out a request form.
Baltimore County
Call 410-887-3560, e-mail highways@baltimorecountymd.gov, or fill out a request form.
Howard County
Contact the Highways Operations Division at 410-313-2900, by email highways@howardcountymd.gov, or fill out an online request.
Anne Arundel County
Call the Pothole Hotline: (410) 222-7045 or your appropriate road district. Road districts are open from 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. You may also report a pothole by email: potholes@aacounty.org
Virginia (VDOT)
To report any road maintenance issues, you can call 1-800-FOR-ROAD (1-800-367-7623), call 703-383-8368, or fill out an online request.
Arlington County
Call 703-228-6570 or fill out an online request. You can also report a problem on Facebook or Twitter.
Fairfax County
If there’s a pothole on a road you know is maintained by the county, then contact 703-877-2800 or see VDOT above.
The Power of Suggestion: Traffic Signs Could Relieve Gridlock; Alter Driving Behavior
What if we could help ease traffic congestion by merely installing traffic signs? Nothing fancy here. These signs would simply suggest a desired driver behavior to achieve a desired outcome: moving traffic along in a more expeditious manner.
Highways all over the country already have these. Imagine my awe as I rode past, staring at them with my mouth wide open as I had an “ah-ha moment.” There was a sign that blatantly said: “Steep Upgrade, Maintain Speed.” Wow, what an idea! A sign that strongly suggests that drivers hit the gas pedal to maintain speed because — pay attention now, this is deep — we are now driving on a steep incline on a highway, and in order to not slow the people down behind us, we need to STEP ON IT. What a novel idea! Why haven’t the transportation authorities in MD, VA, and D.C. metro area caught onto this??
Study explained traffic jams
Years ago, I remember watching a news story about a traffic study that explained why traffic jams and slowdowns occur on our highways. Among their conclusions were: (1) rubbernecking to see the source of a police stop; (2) rubbernecking due to a disabled car or accident; (3) sheer volume; (4) curvy highways; (5) hilly highways (the steeper the grade, the slower traffic gets); (6) construction and or repair.
We have many highways that are curved and are downright hilly in this area. I understand slowing down a little for curves in bad weather, but not to the degree that most people do. I’m quite sure they were built to accommodate highway speeds (at least during fair weather). But, for some reason, people don’t compensate for hills by simply accelerating. Guess they just feel that they don’t need to or are not paying enough attention to notice that their car is slowing down. I wouldn’t want to be a passenger in that car!
Wake up, people!
I believe that this problem could be helped just by strategically installing the right signage. Traffic merging onto I-95 North is always slow because there are two steep upgrades before you even get to Exit 33 Rt. 193. After this exit, traffic usually speeds up exponentially (with some exceptions, of course). I am convinced that merely suggesting that people accelerate to maintain their speed would go a long way to relieve congestion caused by hills. It’s worth a try!
Tell me…what do you think of this solution? Don’t be shy — leave a comment.
Washington DC Traffic Congestion: Several Problems
Yes, traffic has gotten much worse in the metro D.C. area. There are several problems that we have that aren’t being sufficiently addressed:
We don’t have enough roads/lanes/infrastructure to meet the demand. But there’s absolutely NO shortage of vehicles, though!
Our addiction to our vehicles has been neccessitated and fueled (pun intended) by urban sprawl due to out-of-control housing construction/expansion on every piece of land that is available.
Many of us in the Washington, D.C. area are college-educated or better. That means that the demand for white collar jobs is very high and ultracompetitive. However, most of the decent-paying (white collar) jobs are located in only a few major hubs (i.e Herdon/Tysons Corner, D.C., and Bethesda/Rockville/Silver Spring). This causes those of us who don’t also LIVE in these areas (because we can’t AFFORD it) to have to DRIVE to these areas in order to pay our bills because there are, oftentimes, no decent alternatives.
If more people had viable alternatives, like the option to telecommute, more schedule flexibility, convenient commuting/travel options, conveniently located workplaces, more affordable housing located closer to workplaces, expanded infrastructure, etc., we might really be able to lick this thing!
Hello world! This is my first post.
Welcome to the Baltimore-DC Traffic Frustration Blog. This is a place where I will vent about my frustrations driving in the Baltimore/DC area.