Gridlock in DC
Reading about the snowstorm in our nation’s capital and about it taking twelve hours for some to drive home on the George Washington Parkway sent my mind a-wandering. Back in the early 1980s, when I taught in the classics department at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, I used to fly out of the airport now named after Ronald Reagan.
On one such occasion, I flew into DC in the midst of a storm not unlike yesterday’s. I retrieved my car, drove across one of the bridges, and headed north for Pennsylvania. I was not too far out of town when I realized that I was not going to make it. The snow was heavy and exceedingly wet. There were cars in the ditches everywhere, and I was having trouble keeping my vehicle under control. It was not like driving on black ice, but it was not all that different. And so I turned around.
First, I tried driving up Massachusetts Avenue. I had been a Fellow not long before at the Center for Hellenic Studies – which is located just off that avenue not far past Sheridan Circle – and I was confident that Bernard Knox, the director – a remarkable man who had fought in the Spanish Civil War and with the OSS in World War II before doing a Ph.D. in classics at Yale – would put me up. But I found that I could not make much headway in the traffic. So I headed into downtown.
It was then my aim to make my way to Georgetown – to the house of Joseph Alsop, a retired Washington Post columnist whose research assistant I had been for a few months while he was working on his book The Rare Art Traditions. Joe was a pretty tough customer but he had an avuncular side and had always been kind to me. When I lived in DC, I used to stop by frequently to have a drink or two with him, to listen to him tell stories, and then to go out to dinner in his company.
Downtown turned out to be a nightmare. I made it to K Street, and then I got caught in gridlock. That condition is a wonder to behold. Basically, no one was willing to leave the intersection free of cars. In their eagerness to get out, Washington’s drivers abandoned every last shred of civility – and at intersection after intersection, instead of give-and-take, there was only take. It took me an hour to go a single block, and I feared that I would run out of gas (as many a driver did last night on the George Washington Parkway) but, fortunately for me, I didn’t. And eventually I made it to Georgetown, where I managed to find a place in which to ditch my car. Joe was not home, but his housekeeper Gemma, whom I knew well, let me in – and Joe appeared an hour later. He, too, had flown into DC that afternoon. We later learned that a plane, taking off from DCA, had clipped a bridge and crashed into the Potomac. A passer-by who dove into the icy waters managed to save a passenger – but at the price of his own life.
I have never anywhere seen anything like the gridlock that gripped downtown Washington that day, and I wonder whether it happens elsewhere. If not, I suspect that the distinguishing feature of DC is the presence of a myriad of lawyers: gladiators all – with none willing to give quarter to anyone else. I do not know the profession of the passer-by who risked and lost his life. But I am confident that he was not a J. D.
- Comment (18)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (0)
Comments :
Jan '11
Re: Gridlock in DC
I work from home, just north of Baltimore. I'm a database guy, so it makes sense for my job. Once a week, though, I have to go in person to a meeting in Rockville, MD. The commute reminds me of all the years I'd have to commute to work. Two hours each way. What a colossal waste of time and resources!
It gets worse when there's a problem. One of my co-workers left Rockville at 6pm, and didn't arrive at his home in Alexandria, VA until 2am.
If I'm willing to unleash the coercive power of the federal government, it's to mandate that anyone who doesn't absolutely have to work away from home shouldn't. Commuting when it isn't necessary should be a federal felony.
May '10
Re: Gridlock in DC
Slowing down DC to a snail's pace just can't be a bad thing. If this is the result of global warming, I say SUVs for everyone!
May '10
Re: Gridlock in DC
General Patton prayed for clear skies so his planes could clear the way to Berlin. I suggest we pray for heavy snow in D.C. so we can forget about bureaucrats for a few days.
Dec '10
Re: Gridlock in DC
Didn't know you taught at F&M, Paul. My old stomping grounds. I recently gave a talk at the joint Millersville/F&M math colloquium (held at M'ville, but some F&M faculty showed up). Great neighborhood over there.
Aug '10
Re: Gridlock in DC
Lenny Skutnik was one of the heroes, here's the wiki.
And the flight.
Arland Williams died as a result of his efforts to save people, He was a passenger on the plane. He was not a lawyer,but a bank examiner.
Edited on Jan 27, 2011 at 7:57amRe: Gridlock in DC
flownover: Lenny Skutnik was one of the heroes, here's the wiki.
And the flight.
Arland Williams died as a result of his efforts to save people, He was a passenger on the plane. He was not a lawyer,but a bank examiner. · Jan 27 at 7:52am
Edited on Jan 27 at 07:57 am
Thanks for this.
Re: Gridlock in DC
Yes, wonderful farmland and a fabulous covered market in downtown Lancaster. Nice people. When I lived there, it was like living in a time-warp. You could get a filet mignon dinner at the Sun Dinner for under $4.
Dec '10
Re: Gridlock in DC
Paul A. Rahe
Yes, wonderful farmland and a fabulous covered market in downtown Lancaster. Nice people. When I lived there, it was like living in a time-warp. You could get a filet mignon dinner at the Sun Dinner for under $4. · Jan 27 at 8:09am
Well, not so much anymore. But they still have family-style dining at some places. But not for $4. More like $14.
Re: Gridlock in DC
AmishDude
Paul A. Rahe
Yes, wonderful farmland and a fabulous covered market in downtown Lancaster. Nice people. When I lived there, it was like living in a time-warp. You could get a filet mignon dinner at the Sun Dinner for under $4. · Jan 27 at 8:09am
Well, not so much anymore. But they still have family-style dining at some places. But not for $4. More like $14. · Jan 27 at 8:16am
It could not last.
Re: Gridlock in DC
As someone who grew up in the New York area and lived many years in DC, I was always surprised by the latter's reaction to snow. Every year it snows in DC, sometimes many inches. And every year they seem to be as surprised as if they were in Tahiti and had never seen snow before.
Three years ago we were in Arlington and got hit by a big storm. They never even plowed our street.
By contrast, I'm now in NJ and had to shovel out about 12 inches today so I could get out to the train station to work. That's what most people do. My daughters helped, and willingly too, but those snowy mornings are the only time I find myself wishing for a son. If I had a son I could do what my dad did: leave for work and just say he wanted it taken care of before he got home.
May '10
Re: Gridlock in DC
As I mentioned over in the member feed, yesterday's gridlock was due in large part to the OPM director unintentionally putting almost all federal employees on the roads at the same time by sending folks home two hours early. It was so bad on New York Ave that people were trying to drive on the sidewalks! I read somewhere that D.C.'s bad traffic is only rivaled by Chicago. I'm not one to defend lawyers, though I think this area has plenty, but the biggest obstacle is geography. A lot of people work in D.C., but live in Virginia, which means that the few bridges get clogged really fast. Folks could metro if they didn't live so far out in the exurbs. Ah, urban sprawl. Then you have the notorious winding arteries like the GW Parkway that are nearly impassable with a few inches of snow on the ground. My husband commutes from MD to VA every day, but he's a Metro rider, so it only took him two hours to get home last night. By the way, keeping government bureaucrats home doesn't save the taxpayers anything. It actually costs money.
Re: Gridlock in DC
Bill McGurn: As someone who grew up in the New York area and lived many years in DC, I was always surprised by the latter's reaction to snow. Every year it snows in DC, sometimes many inches. And every year they seem to be as surprised as if they were in Tahiti and had never seen snow before.
Three years ago we were in Arlington and got hit by a big storm. They never even plowed our street.
By contrast, I'm now in NJ and had to shovel out about 12 inches today so I could get out to the train station to work. That's what most people do. My daughters helped, and willingly too, but those snowy mornings are the only time I find myself wishing for a son. If I had a son I could do what my dad did: leave for work and just say he wanted it taken care of before he got home. · Jan 27 at 8:53am
My sons are still four years old and two. But the day will come...
Jul '10
Re: Gridlock in DC
Having lived in the DC area all of my life, it would never have occurred to me to try going through the city in bad weather. The madness is legendary.
Bill: The higher the taxes, the worse the snow removal in the DC area. My favorite is when DC throws its hands up in the air and waits for nature to melt it. Also, we tend to these vapid little fraction of an inch snows. I think we've seen three feet or more twice in fifty years. Between the politicians and the military and the diplomatic corps, every time it snows we seem to introduce at least 100,000 people to the concept. When on government site, there is almost always someone needing the brief on how to drive in the stuff.
Jul '10
Re: Gridlock in DC
Karen:
...
By the way, keeping government bureaucrats home doesn't save the taxpayers anything. It actually costs money.
Everything Washington does costs more money. An excellent argument, one would think, for moving the capital to someplace more sensible. Given the preferences of the city, I am thinking someplace adjacent to Brussels. That would leave the US to build a capital on a more sensible foundation.
Today was a two hour delay with liberal leave, so civil servants will have to burn leave to stay home. Otherwise, we are paying bureaucrats 8 hours for 6 hours worth of spending and regulating. Sadly, I suspect that the numbers will come out no differently in the end, they must spend every penny of that precious budget or they will not have it when the circumstances arise where they really, really need it. And the regulations are clearly a labor of love, given that they produce far more than they ever read.
Re: Gridlock in DC
Sisyphus, agree entirely.
Paul, viz your sons, when I was in 5th grade, I begged ... begged ... my father to mow the lawn. (The novelty, of course, soon wore off). I had three brothers coming up behind me. I remember my dad's saying to my mother, "I have mowed my last lawn."
Dec '10
Re: Gridlock in DC
For some reason, Atlanta shuts down like this whenever there's more than 2 inches of snowfall. It's comical to hear about Hartsfield International coming to a standstill at those times.
Dec '10
Re: Gridlock in DC
Fortunately, we will all soon have high-speed rail lines to facilitate our commutes. And everyone knows that the cold and snow don't affect those.
May '10
Re: Gridlock in DC
I grew up in the DC area. Mom and Dad are still in McLean. Mom called this morning to regale me with tales of the insanity. Apparently 100 cars were abandoned on the GW Parkway, between Spout Run and Dolley Madison Boulevard. If memory serves, that's about four miles. This morning the cars were being towed to the scenic overlooks and after those filled they would go TR Island. It never changes, it's been like this since we moved there in 1966. I remember the Air Florida crash. Another night with cars abandoned everywhere. There was a passer-by who jumped into the river to save people. I am so glad I no longer live there.