LETTER: Fix Old Bridge traffic lights

By: | Inside NoVA
Published: November 18, 2009

What is wrong with the signal timing of traffic lights on Old Bridge Road? Has VDOT out-sourced this function to some third world country? One past week was miserable at best for the morning commute
out of Lake Ridge. Thirty minutes to go from Lake Ridge to Interstate 95 is totally unacceptable. Sixty minutes to make the 13-mile trip to Fort Belvoir is likewise intolerable. Morning or evening, there are
problems. Commuters know where the problems are. When is VDOT going to figure it out?

Please tell me that VDOT knows that the clocks were set back one hour. The massive delays on Old Bridge and on U.S. 1 north seemed to coincide with the time change. If VDOT could figure out proper
signal timing, I don’t think that we would have the major gridlock problems that commuters deal with daily. I suspect that every commuter knows which traffic signals are contributing to the problems.
Why can’t VDOT figure it out?

I estimate that the roads in Northern Virginia are running at less than 50 percent of design capacity because of poor signal timing throughout the area. Maybe VDOT needs to examine its timing policies
which seem to be aimed at “being fair” to everyone while not making anyone happy. Through traffic on the main routes needs to be the priority flow during the morning and evening rush hours. Side streets
and turn lanes can wait the extra one to two minutes if they were assured of a free-flow commute once on the main route.

It would sure be nice if the local and regional politicians could get VDOT’s attention on the signal timing issue. That is a near term, inexpensive fix that would do much more than boat rides on the
Potomac and Metro to Potomac Mills.

Focus on fixing the traffic signal timing. I can’t wait 30 years for a fix and neither can most of the commuters in Prince William County.

CHARLES GALLION

Woodbridge