Where the worst backups were
The State Highway Administration has released a short list of the worst of the worst backups that bedeviled drivers Wednesday night and early Thursday morning. The list does not include the Jones Falls Expressway in Baltimore, one of the most severely affected roads, because it is maintained by the city Department of Transportation.
Prudent motorists will file these locations away mentally because the same characteristics that turned them into parking lots could crop up again in a future snowstorm. In particular, drivers should be wary about getting on the JFX any time it's rush hour and there's snow in the forecast. You have a windy road that is one long bridge, with no shoulders for emergency vehicles to get through in some place -- and it's uphill from President Street to Baltimore County.
Drivers should also be aware that Interstate 70 at Route 27 in Mt. Airy seems to be the place for tractor-trailers to go to crash. And the hill at Braddock Heights isn't going to get any less steep.
Here's the list:
• I-695 between Reisterstown Road and Loch Raven Boulevard and I-83 between Padonia and Ruxton roads (creating residual delays and closures along I-83 in Baltimore City (JFX)). SHA worked together with Maryland State Police to tow a total of 46 disabled passenger vehicles and seven tractor trailers.
o Nine disabled vehicles were removed from I-83 between I-695 and Ruxton Road
• I-95/I-495 north of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge where 17 tractor trailers were disabled and removed from the travel lanes.
• I-95/I-495 at the American Legion Bridge was closed as a result of a total of four jack-knifed tractor trailers between approximately 7 – 11 p.m.
• Eastbound and westbound I-70 at Braddock Mountain west of Frederick, where dozens of tractor trailers were stuck and caused a major back up. Most significant impacts were along Westbound I-70, where the road was closed at US 40 to free tractor trailers by backing them down the grade of Braddock Mountain one by one.
• EB I-70 near MD 27 was closed between approximately 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. and WB I-70 at
MD 27 and MD 94 closed between approximately 5 pm. and 2 a.m. This incident involved dozens of disabled tractor trailers, which subsequently trapped passenger vehicles.
The list is far from complete. I understand there were also serious, hours-long backups on such roads as U.S. 40 at the Patapsco River and on U.S. 29 in Montgomery County. Where else diid people sit in traffiic for hours at a time?
Comments
Stuck on 795 South trying to head North onto 695 for two hours.
Posted by: fred mertz | January 27, 2011 1:23 PM
Northern Parkway headed west near Sinai Hospital. Stuck for 1.5 hours
Posted by: Bruce Ansley | January 27, 2011 2:16 PM
I was stuck on gwynn oak between the park and purnell drive for 6 hours. A bus, a emt van and a bunch of cars blocked the road.
Posted by: Kim | January 27, 2011 2:42 PM
At one time MD Rt 29 was closed/blocked/gridlocked from the DC line in Silver Spring to the Howard County line. Congestion, accidents and road conditions made the trip for that distance exceed 5 hours.
Posted by: Malfunction Junction | January 27, 2011 4:02 PM
Rt 100 eastbound just after route 29. Horrible.
Posted by: JB | January 27, 2011 4:20 PM
That's a pipedream. 95% of commuters drive the same exact route every day - they point their car and go into "automatic", not even thinking about the way. Too many do not even know an alternate route. Many times traveling in Inner Harbor east one will see a backup on one road, but nothing on on others roads like Central Avenue.
Posted by: JijiN | January 27, 2011 4:38 PM
Spent about 2.5 hours getting from Rte 100 to Rte 29 @ Rte 40. Turns out the incline on Rte 29 before the Rte 40 W was not very friendly to cars and some trucks. It would have been better to stop traffic, clear the roads and let traffic through rather have the wild west, each person for himself or herself.
Posted by: sbk | January 27, 2011 4:41 PM
I spent 10, yes TEN hours on the JFX last night and experienced the most ineffective show of city miss-management EVER.
Lots of Police and Fire vehicles going the wrong way on the other side of the JFX but no bullhorn... update or advice for stranded commuters many of which were running or had run out of gas.
I am confused as to why they did not back us off the highway at the last exit and reroute the stranded vehicles. When we were able to finally move around abandoned cars the roads had not been plowed. The City Department of Transportation should be embarrassed at this utter failure to take care of the roads and their residents.
Posted by: Julie | January 27, 2011 5:45 PM