VDOT Traffic Study Recommends Addressing American Legion Bridge

A Virginia Department of Transportation study of 11 Potomac River crossings that dates back to 2013 will be presented to the state’s Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) in Richmond on Wednesday.

Its primary focus is alleviating traffic on the American Legion Bridge, and its recommendation to the CTB is simple: Extend High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes across the bridge to the 270 spur.

The study found the American Legion Bridge to have the most commuters of any of the 11 crossings investigated with nearly 300,000 per day.

It also found that during afternoon peak periods, a vehicle’s average speed on the outer loop of the bridge is 34 miles per hour, and on the inner loops it’s an even more dreadful 22 miles per hour. For context’s sake, the average speed of a vehicle in both directions during morning peak hours is more than 49 miles per hour, and on weekends the average speed in both directions tops 55 miles per hour.

Check out the entire VDOT study here.

VDOT expressed focus on the bridge is of top priority, not only because it was found to have the worst current congestion, but because it is projected to have the largest growth in volumes in 2040, 25 years from now.

In addition to extending HOT lanes to Interstate 270 in Maryland, VDOT recommended potentially installing a new “outer bridge crossing” as well, but noted pursuing one project wouldn’t eliminate the potential to complete the other.

“Staff recommend that extending HOT lanes across American Legion Bridge to 270 spur be the top priority for addressing western Potomac River crossings,” reads the study.

“With concurrence of the Board, staff will begin outreach to Maryland to determine interest in examining options for extending HOT lanes to the 270 spur. (This) does not eliminate the benefits of a future ‘outer’ crossing to address the needs for interconnectivity crossing Potomac River.”

The presentation to the CTB is vital because according to Virginia policy no major road or transit project may progress without the the CTB’s approval.

The study also found that few commuters have “I” shaped routes from destination to destination, which is to say few are lucky enough to enjoy a straight-line commute. In fact, most commuters must endure “L” and/or “U” shaped commutes, indicating inefficiencies between popular starting-and-ending destinations.

Here are a list of common “L” shaped commutes specified in the study:

• Western Fairfax to Eastern Montgomery
• Eastern Loudon to Eastern Montgomery
• Central Fairfax to Western Montgomery
• Central Fairfax to Frederick
• Central Fairfax to Points Northwest

And here are a list of common “U” shaped commutes from the study:

• Western Fairfax to Western Montgomery
• Western Fairfax to Frederick
• Western Fairfax to Points Northwest
• Eastern Loudon to Western Montgomery
• Eastern Loudon to Frederick
• Eastern Loudon to Points Northwest

Lastly, the study found an alarming 44,300 commuters use Metro’s Roslyn Tunnel to commute back to Virginia, more than three times the number of passengers traveling through the tunnel during morning peak hours.

With that in mind, VDOT also suggested addressing this congestion down the line, but did not prioritize it on the same level as the Legion Bridge.

“Significant investment is required in the future to further address core capacity issues on WMATA,” the study states.