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The Nation's Pulse
Drive Faster
A final Columbus Day lesson.
Having made a car trip to northern New Jersey over the holiday I feel constrained to pledge never to try that again.
You can get around the Baltimore by-pass with the ease with which you can negotiate the Beltway around the District of Columbia. But there is more fun going from north to south. Right after the bridge that throws cars onto 95 South toward the District, there is a toll on the Delaware strip of the road. It was backed up nearly to the bridge exit on Sunday — exhorting all to use the EZ-Pass lanes.
Sure. Traffic was backed up and stopped for some 45 minutes, creeping toward the toll booth. E-Z pass and otherwise. Once through, there are across-the-highway signs urging anyone who notices “something suspicious” to dial an 800 number that ends in “TIPS.” My tip: “Get rid of that 4-dollar Delaware toll,” or hire some more toll-takers.
Once through, the speed limit is 65 miles an hour on 95, but those who spent the better part of the day waiting to reach the toll were not about to obey such a rule. At 65 I was passed as though standing still by all those trying to make up time. Highway patrol cars were careful to stay out of their way.
This was but an incident befalling travelers over the weekend. There were many such. At times there was traffic backed up in all lanes. I had the foresight on the New Jersey Turnpike to stop at the Walt Whitman rest area for some leaves of grass.
The upshot: you cannot drive on what little asphalt exists to accommodate the growing number of cars and trucks now extant in the East. Morning finds route 95 jammed from Baltimore on south to the District. Put a holiday atop that and you have utter chaos. Columbus couldn’t have stood it.
About the Author
Reid Collins is a former CBS and CNN news correspondent.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (14) | Leave a comment
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Paul D| 10.13.10 @ 8:44AM
I drive that route from DC to New York and back all the time. I feel your pain.
Recommended alternate route going South from Delaware Memorial bridge is take Delaware route 13, (exit right after Memorial bridge toll booth) and cut over to Route 301 via 299 (in Delaware) and then connect through route 50 across the Chesapeake Bay bridge. It is an infinitely more pleasant drive (except when you hit times where there is returning beach traffic on the Bay bridge)
I'm a native New Yorker who now lives in Maryland. It's my observation that traffic generally moves much better in the New York Metropolitan area than it does South of the Delaware Memorial bridge. New York and New Jersey built their highway systems in the 1950's and 60's, back when Americans could still do things. They built their highways to handle large traffic flows at that time and for what the projected in the foreseeable future. Since then, the New York Metropolitan area population has only grown about 50%, whereas the DC metropolitan area has grown about 400%.
Of course, everything in the DC area is run by a commitee, so no one has been able to build the highway infrastructure here needed to keep up with the population growth. Do I need to describe in detail the stupidity of the highway planning in DC itself? I'm sure you already know about I-395 and how it connects to I-295 going Southbound by not Northbound - and how I-295 connects to I-395 going North but does not connect going South.
The "Disease of Big Government" touches everything, including its own infrastructure.
manolo | 10.13.10 @ 9:24AM
Sorry, but is not faster when you convert your Flash Drive to NTFS, I thought the same but using TERACOPY i could check speed and it was 1MB/s slower, There is a problem i still cant understand, I copied a 700 MB .avi movie to my Flash Voyager 2 GB, just after i formated my PC it lasted around 40 seconds to do it, this is around 18 MB/s transfer, some weeks later, after i used my PC and its USB ports i did it again, and now it last 1:40 seconds to copy the same file to the same Flash Drive, now it is working at 7 MB/s, i dont know whats the problem, i have been investigating all this week, im using Windows XP Professional, i readed about Windows 2000 doesnt have this problem, and readed too about VISTA has a worse problem with USB transfers, but my External 750GB USB HDD doesnt have problems at all, it is working around 35 MB/s (280 Mbits/s) so it is ok, i think this is a USB drivers problem, i cant understand, i swear my Flash Voyager 2GB was working at 18MB/s and now just 5 MB/s. I have another PC in my apartment in other state, it was working 18MB/s too, i will travel this week and i will test it again to see if it continue copying at 18MB/s.
MrPhlegm| 10.13.10 @ 11:40AM
lol wut?
Ken (Old Texican)| 10.13.10 @ 8:51AM
Reid,
I was not going to comment on your grumping...until I saw your resume' at the bottom of the column.
My advice to you is the same I give to people heading to Galveston on a weekend...Go early...stay late ...and quit bitching. ...See, you are part of the problem too, dumkoff.
idoit liberal| 10.13.10 @ 11:39AM
Why are you driving? There are mass transportation options available that do not rape and kill our beloved planet like driving does, use them. Shame on you for killing and destroying our beautiful world. Praise Gore! Praise him in the highest.
chris| 10.13.10 @ 12:55PM
F Al Gore For The Fraud that he his. Ask him to pay your utility bills and see what he tells ya!
jrjr| 10.13.10 @ 4:50PM
And don't think for one moment that you could afford to pay his carbon bill. They know for sure that we are killing the planet with pollution but cannot predict the hurricanes that will destroy Florida. Better luck nest year. Please consult the Almanac before making future predictions.
Ed| 10.13.10 @ 2:16PM
There is a similar situation on I-80 going through the south 'burbs of Chicago. There is a short stretch of tollway that backs up traffic for miles in each direction. If you are travelling from the Indiana Toll Road to Western Illinois and Iowa, there are no other routes.
Thank you DemocRATs!
"One Gov to Rule Them All"
Frank Natoli| 10.13.10 @ 5:19PM
Go west, young man, to Point of Rocks, north to Route 15, north past Gettysburg to Harrisburg, east on I-81. If you want to hit Jersey, continue east onto I-78. For central Jersey, continue on I-78 into Jersey. For northern Jersey, go north after Allentown to I-80 east. If you're heading for New England, stay on I-81 to I-84 then east all the way. On almost all of these routes, your only concern will be outrunning the State Police.
You thus completely avoid all the misery in MD, DE and southern NJ.
Ken| 10.13.10 @ 5:54PM
It takes seven minutes to go around the toll booth there, through Newark, Delaware and the edge of the university. Plus, have some sales tax free dinner.
UpstateNewYawka| 10.13.10 @ 11:58PM
The I-695 beltway around Baltimore is no bargain. It's a five lane expressway both ways with a 55 MPH speed limit. We were unlucky enough to be going through a 50 MPH portion (superficial construction zone) at 64 MPH with “Photo Enforced Speed Zone” signs. A week later, we received a color photo with a $40 fine in the mail. The marvels of Big Brother and technology. BTW, we passed under a dozen of those “Report Suspicious Activity” signs – LOL.
Johnny Lucid| 10.15.10 @ 10:42AM
The far superior route to North Jersey is:
Take I-270 to Frederick, MD, then take US-15 North to Camp Hill, PA. In Camp Hill get on PA 581 which becomes I-83 North. Follow that to I-81 North. About 25 miles east of Harrisburg, bear right onto I-78 East. That'll take you through the Lehigh Valley, over the Delaware and into Jersey. About a half hour along I-78 East you can then choose to continue East, or go north or south on I-287. There are zero tolls Jersey-bound and the scenery is much better. On the way back there's only the toll over the Delaware.