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Old or Archived "Hot Updates" Pentagon Kiss and Ride Lot Changes (17 Apr 03) - Due to construction, the North Parking Kiss and Ride lot has been closed and re-located to the South Parking lot effective 16 Apr 03. It does not appear as though this will impact slugging. Please post comments on the message board regarding any impacts. Here is some additional information. San Francisco has Newspaper Article on Slugging (25 July 02). The San Francisco Chronicle printed a short article on casual carpooling. Read article. Horner Road Expanded Lot is Open. Newspaper Article on Slugging in The Hartford Courant (5 July 02). Slugging continues to stay in the news - even in Hartford Connecticut! Read article. Ideas Wanted! (11 July 02). Do you have ideas on how this website could support slugs better? In the past we've added: a new topic on the message board for new slug lines, added the MapQuest mapping function, and we are currently working on a survey/polling feature. If you have ideas, send them our way to webmaster@slug-lines.com Newspaper Article on Horner Road (25 Jun) - Lane Ranger of the Potomac News answers questions regarding Horner Road lot and Potomac Mills in the 24 June issue. See News and Radio. SIX new slug lines Proposed (25 Jun ) - See the new category on the Message Board. Possible lines include: Union Station, Route 630, Vienna, Springfield Mall, 18th Street, and a new added Rt 17 to L'Enfant. New Category on Message Board (21 Jun ) - A new category was added to the Message Board for those interested in starting NEW slug lines! Polling/Survey to Start (21 Jun) - A fellow slug had a great idea of surveying each slug line to help slugs/drivers determine the best pickup times! If you knew there were a lot more drivers/slugs to your destination at 0645 instead of 0700 it might make the slugging experience a little easier. Look for the survey's in the next week. Safety Issues at Tackett's Mill (14 Jun) - With the growth and popularity of the Tackett's Mill slug line, some concerns about safety have surfaced. VDOT may assist from a safety standpoint. See Message Board (under the Morning Slug Lines folder, or click on Active Topics). Message Board Topics (13 June) - There are over 450 postings on the Message Board. Please support Slugging by sharing your knowledge with others. See Message Board. Interactive Lost and Found Database (13 Jun) - The Lost and Found database has helped hundreds recover lost items. Postings are 'real time' so your item is displayed immediately! See Lost and Found. Route 3 Slug Line Gets off to Great Start (4 June) - The new Rt 3 Gordon Road line is off to a great start according to dozens of emails received yesterday. For more info see the map and description at Rt.3 Gordon Rd. Dozens of Signs for Download (4 June 02) - For those needing to hold up signs for their destination, there are dozens of signs already made and ready to print on this site. Click here for more info. Newsletter #6 Published (27 May 02) - The most recent Slug-Lines.com Newsletter (#6) was emailed on 26 May to over 1000+ slugs and drivers on the mailing list. Join now and get the latest highlights. We don't bombard you with email either - newsletters are about once month or less. New Maps Posted (14 May 02) - New maps have been posted for L'Enfant Plaza, Pentagon, and Crystal City North. Rosslyn Line Traffic Volume (2 May 02) - It's amazing but a survey of the Rosslyn line revealed that in a two hour period the Rosslyn line moved 327 people/206 cars!! That means that the 327 people slugging are not driving which obviously reduces congestion on the highways. The numbers indicate a strong statement on the popularity of slugging in Rosslyn. Route 3 Latest Status: (email as of 2 May): " Hi Slugs, Welcome to the new people on the list. I am getting 5 new names per day. This thing really is starting to explode. There are a lot of ideas going back and forth in the emails and someone has to make a decision. Here is what I think after going thru over 100 emails. In the beginning we should use the Pentagon Fredericksburg sign as our return point for the afternoon. It's not that hard to separate between the 17 and 3 slug lines. As for the morning line I am going to call the Winn Dixie property management tomorrow and see what they say. I think the Winn Dixie lot is perfect. Plenty of room, and 100 yards from the Urkops lot. The only drawback to using WinnDixie lot is at some time in the future we may have to abandon this site if they fill the building with a new tenant. At that point we could just move to Ukrops. From what the VDOT people are saying, if we cram the Ukrops lot, we force them to take action by providing more parking. I will let you know tomorrow what Winn Dixie says. Then it's time to make a final decision. Also, we must get the word to the drivers. everyone needs to print out the flyer attached to this email and carry 20 copies with you. Give to all drivers. I am going to make some 3x3 large signs to put up for drivers to see. Keep working gang, we are almost there!!! Thanks to all, Todd" Route 3 Sketch available (30 Apr 02) - Momentum is growing for a new slug line near Route 3. See the proposed location sketch VIEW or DOWNLOAD. If interested, send your comments to Todd at: FBurgVA@aol.com Crystal Gateway Flyer now available (26 Apr 02) - Click here to VIEW or DOWNLOAD. New Route 3 Line Considered (26 Apr 02) - A slug is trying to determine if there is interest in starting a new slug line near Route 3 in either the Ukrops lot or at Gordon Rd. Sketch of proposed site should be available in the next day. Send your comments to him at: FBurgVA@aol.com Crystal Gateway Slug Line will Relocate! (25 Apr 02) - Negotiations between Traffic Management officials and the Arlington County Police regarding the safety issues with the slug-line at the northern end of Crystal City have ended. The decision was to relocate the slug line on 29 April 2002. The new location will be about 75 yards East of the current location. This will be the curve on S. 12 Street where it goes from one way to two direction traffic. Traffic Mgt will be removing about 6 parking meters to allow people to safely pull out of the roadway to pick people up. The Police Department will be assisting the slug participants by directing them to the new location. The new location is close enough to the old location so the DOD bus stop should still be accessible. More Saratoga Slug-line News (25 Apr 02) - Negotiations continue between Fairfax County and the management of First Washington Property Management. They had a meeting on Monday to determine which parking spaces would be use for commuters based upon their parking requirements. Fairfax County sent them a copy of the Shared Parking Ordinance so that they understand that dedicated commuter spaces will not impact parking requirements. They were also told that the County provides liability insurance. More to follow but everything seems to be on track New State Department Line Starting (28 Mar 02) - A slug is trying to start a new slug line for the State Department beginning the First Week in April! There may be more information on the message board. Click here to go straight to the discussion.Here is a information he has provided:
Major Changes to Rosslyn Slug Line - Effective 18 March 02 the Rosslyn Slug Line will relocate. For the past two weeks, the Arlington County Commuter Assistance Program (www.CommuterPage.com) and Arlington County Department of Public Work's Traffic Engineering Division have considered at least seven options submitted by slugs on how to best resolve the traffic problem in front of the Metro station. The results are as follows:
Although some counties may reluctantly tolerate slugging, Arlington County and their Commuter Assistance Program have been very active supporter of slugging. Not only are they supporting slugging, but they are spending county funds to make slugging even more popular. As one Arlington County official stated "We are working hard to support the slug line and am pleased that it has grown so much in Rosslyn that it has been noticed. Problems of success are far better than problems of failure." (referring to the number of people using this method of commuting). Is the new location just as convenient as the old location? Although it's not across the street from the Metro, it's only about 1.5 blocks away. Not only will it be more efficient and get you home faster than the old line but it has the full support of the county. With two lines instead of one, the flow of slugs/drivers should increase. In addition, it will be safer than the old location. What were the seven options: 1) Split the line: one for Tackett's Mill/Potomac Mills/Horner and another for Stafford. Leave the Tackett's Mill/Potomac in its current location and move the Stafford line near the corner of 19th and N. Moore Street (in front of McDonalds). The area in front of McDonalds has parking meters so if the city would post "no parking from 3:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m." this would help prevent problems with those trying to use the meters. Advantage - less disruptive than any other option and easiest to implement. Only half the slugs are moved. Retains the normal slug traffic flow so less driver confusion. Easy to access HOV. Disadvantage is it may not completely relieve the congestion in front of the metro and does not resolve the issue with blocking the alley. Potential problem with parking meters. 2) Split the line: one for Tackett's Mill/Potomac Mills/Horner and another for Stafford. Move the Tackett's Mill/Potomac down about .5 blocks to the area in front of the park and move the Stafford line near the corner of 19th and N. Moore Street (in front of McDonalds). Like option #1 there are parking meters near both locations so if the city would post "no parking from 3:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m." this might work. Otherwise, there may be problems with those trying to use the meters. Advantage - less disruptive than most options and easy to implement. All slugs must relocate a very short distance but is close enough to original site that it would be accepted. Retains the normal slug traffic flow so less driver confusion. Resolves the issue with blocking the alley. Easy to access HOV. Disadvantage- may not completely relieve the congestion in front of the metro. Potential problem with parking meters. 3) Move the line down one block to N. Moore and 19th Street but not all the way down to the far corner. This option would maintain the original traffic flow of slug drivers (travelling north on N. Moore Street) The line could be split into the Tackett's Mill/Potomac Mills/Horner and Stafford. Advantage - All slugs must relocate a short distance but is still close enough to original site that it would probably be accepted. Retains the normal slug traffic flow so less driver confusion. Resolves the issue with blocking the alley. Relieves the congestion in front of the metro. Easy to access HOV. Disadvantage - Far enough away from original site that slugs may resist moving. 4) Move the slug line to the east side of N. Fort Myers Drive (this is the split road) on the other side of the metro. This would be near the side entrance to the Metro. Again, the line could be split to reduce vehicle backups. Advantage - Very close to Metro. Because of proximity to Metro this would probably be accepted. Resolves the issue with blocking the alley. Relieves the congestion in front of the metro. Easy to access HOV. Disadvantage - Completely new slug area. Normal slug traffic flow is changed causing confusion. Harder to implement that options 1-3 because new site is not visually identifiable from old location (that is, from the old location someone cannot just point down the street to see the new locations). 5) Move the slug line to the west side of N. Fort Myers Drive. Directly across the street from the side entrance to the metro. Problem with this suggestion is it forces slugs to cross the street. Again, the line could be split to reduce vehicle backups. Advantage - Close to Metro. Resolves the issue with blocking the alley. Relieves the congestion in front of the metro. Disadvantage - Completely new slug area. Normal slug traffic flow is changed causing confusion. Harder to implement that options 1-3 because new site is not visually identifiable from old location (that is, from the old location someone cannot just point down the street to see the new locations). Slugs must cross to other side of very wide street. More difficult to access HOV. 6) Move the line near the corner of Nash Street between Golds Gym and the Arlington Temple. It is easy to get to via the skywalk from the Metro. "If Arlington would allow the slug line to form on the Arlington Temple side of the road, and remove a couple of the parking meters, there is plenty of sidewalk/curb space to operate both lines, have easy access to Metro, and be out of the way. This would also prevent U-turns since drivers would be able to choose their route at the Nash/Fort Myer intersection." Advantage - Close to Metro. Resolves the issue with blocking the alley. Relieves the congestion in front of the metro. Disadvantage - Completely new slug area. Normal slug traffic flow is changed causing confusion. Harder to implement that options 1-3 because new site is not visually identifiable from old location (that is, from the old location someone cannot just point down the street to see the new locations). Slugs must cross to other side of very wide street. More difficult to access HOV 7) Move the line down to the intersection of N. Ft. Myer Drive and & Lee Highway. Advantage - Resolves the issue with blocking the alley. Relieves the congestion in front of the metro. Easy to access HOV. Disadvantage - Completely new slug area. Normal slug traffic flow is changed causing confusion. Harder to implement that options 1-3 because new site is not visually identifiable from old location (that is, from the old location someone cannot just point down the street to see the new locations). Slugs must walk the longest distance of all options. Far enough away from original site that slugs may resist moving. A flyer is being developed and should be available by 13 March for printing or download. Rosslyn Slug Line - As traffic and commuter congestion worsens along the 1800 block of N. Moore St. in front of the Rosslyn Metro Station, so has the scrutiny of the slug line that supports hundreds of local commuters. On February 22nd I received an email stating that on February 21st the Arlington Police Department passed out the following notice to slugs: "ATTENTION
SLUG LINE USER'S"
In an effort to avoid citations it is suggested that the slug line be moved to a less congested area. Your help in this matter is appreciated. /s/ Officer Gleason, 703-228-3600 x9712 I have contacted the Arlington County Police Department and have asked for their assistance in resolving the congestion problems. The traffic problems along N. Moore Street are not purely slug induced and I am confident the department is taking a holistic approach by addressing all alternatives. It should be mentioned that Arlington County and their commuter assistance program has been a very active supporter of slugging! Regardless to the outcome of the Arlington Police Department, there are some suggestions from within the slugging community to improve the Rosslyn line:
Another newsletter will be distributed as this issues gets resolved.
Bob's (aka Long John Silver) UPDATE: this location has been fenced off forcing the slug line to move to the Circuit City parking lot. Fairfax County, who has been verysupportive of slugging in the past is working to resolve the problem. As soon as information is available, information will be posted on the website and distributed via the Slug-Lines.com Newsletter. 14th & G Slug Line Emerging - A new slug line is emerging between 14th & G Street. The destination is primarily for the Stafford 610 commuter lot and develops between 4:30 - 6 pm. Slugs have been holding 610 signs. Horner Road Gets Expanded...again! VDOT plans on expanding this lot this summer. I received the following information from a slug: "I corresponded with both VDOT and Prince William County and received an update on the Horner Road commuter lot expansion. The current expansion is slated for completion at the end August 2002. It will add a total of 1,337 spaces. According to my calculations the total number of spaces will eventually be 2,387, which can be compared to the original (pre-2001) total of 724 (information from VDOT website). The summer 2001 addition was 326 spaces making the current total 1,050. " L'Enfant Slug Line is Growing - L'Enfant Plaza slug line has grown in popularity the past few months. This line use to serve only the Springfield commuters but has expanded to serve the Stafford and Fredericksburg areas as well. L'Enfant Plaza now has an afternoon line with the following destinations:
OmniRide Starts Using New Pentagon Terminal - Starting Monday, December 17, OmniRide buses will begin service to the new Pentagon Bus Terminal. OmniRide buses have been assigned to the first and second bus bays (L1 and L2) on the lower level. Dale City (including Navy Yard), Montclair, Route 1 and South Route 1 buses will serve bay L1 while Lake Ridge, and Manassas buses will serve bay L2. For more information about the New Pentagon Transit Center, look for the brochure in the schedule rack. Downtown DC Passengers The AM OmniRide bus stop at 14th and Constitution near the Regan Building will be discontinued, effective Monday, December 17. Buses will continue to serve the mid-block stop directly in front the Regan Building. VDOT Public Meeting 17 Dec 01 - This public hearing is a Location & Design Public Hearing for Minnieville Road from Caton Hill Road to Old Bridge Road. It takes place Monday 17 December 2001, 5:00 - 8:00 PM at the Chinn Park Library Community Room. I-66 to Get Reversible HOV Lanes - a recent visit to the Transportation Coordination Council website contained the Northern Virginia 2020 Transportation Plan - Highway. This long range plan had dozens of projects but one of interest to sluggers is the improvement of the reversible HOV lanes in the 2010 timeframe. Perhaps slugging will become as popular on I-66 as on I-95.... Below is an except from the report:
For more information see: http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/nova/nv2020/imprvmnts/PWint2020.htm
L'Enfant adds Route 610 destination (1 Dec ) - A slugging provided the following information regarding L'Enfant Slug line: "L'Enfant to 610 is starting to pick up in the evenings. A reminder to slugs, please have 610 signs with you. Because of where the slug line is located, a lot of drivers do not even know the line is there. Last night, people in the front of the line didn't have 610 signs, said they didn't need them, and we all had to wait longer (the regular drivers came by). Have been picked up numerous times because drivers have seen the signs and not knew about the line." Route 110 Morning Access Changes (28 Nov) - Posting from message board "This morning, November 28, there was another traffic pattern established in the Pentagon area without advance notice. Specifically, I had 3 riders from the Fredericksburg area that needed to go to the Pentagon. I turned off the HOV lane at the Pentagon exit, turned left onto what had been the access road to 110, and saw a huge sign which read "110 Access Closed". Needless to say, that came as quite a shock. I was able to ask one of the security guards for directions, and ended up going back down Fern Street and cutting across Fern to 15th Street and then to the I-395, 110 route that runs beside the Pentagon. Does anyone know how long this traffic pattern will remain? Is it going to be permanent? Has anyone else found a better way to drop off Pentagon workers in the mornings? I work in Rosslyn and need to get onto either 110 or 27 to go to Wilson Boulevard. I'd appreciate any help you can provide."
Pentagon bus service to resume
Dec. 16 Commuter Lot Crime (15 Nov 01) - The following was submitted by a slug on 14 Nov to warn others: "My car was broken into at the Horner Road commuter lot on November 13th. The windows were busted out and everything was taken. I called the police and they took a report, could not get fingerprints, and said that lot gets hit all the time! I was told the next morning by the driver that 3 other cars had been broken into that day. Then I went on to say I was going to start parking at Lakeridge and she said oh it happens there all the time too!!!! This is crazy! How can there not be patrol vehicles or cameras??? Horner Road is an 800 car parking lot where people are leaving their cars to go to WORK. Why isn't there a more safe way to commute?? I have decided for my own safety I will now metro. I had only slugged for 3 months and look where it got me. Please post this message. I am very curious to know how many other cars have been broken in to." I have report this to government officials. Pentagon Slug Lines Relocate Temporarily. The following was released on a 16 Sep via a DoD news release "Parking at the Pentagon will be limited due to staging areas related to the incident scene. Access to South Parking will be only through Fern Street in Pentagon City. North Parking will be open as usual, but with a reduced number of parking spaces. Individuals seeking to park in any Pentagon parking area will be required to show their building pass and a second form of identification. The slug line that usually forms in South Parking will be available on Fern Street, northbound at Army-Navy Drive." I am working with DOD to see if we can construct a detailed map on where each line will be. All registered slugs will receive emails. Please pass it along to other slugs. Prince William Square
Parking is Back On!
(23 July 01) - The following was submitted by Ms. Ruth T. Griggs, Occoquan District
Supervisor - "To all Prince William Square Commuters: Prince William Square Parking Problems (19 July 01) - The following information was sent from Ms. Ruth T. Griggs, Occoquan District Supervisor : " I am sending this out to everyone who contacted me about Prince William Square. I am sorry for all the confusion. The Prince William Square shopping center (across from Potomac Mills Mall) has asked commuters to move on from their lot. I spoke with the property manager this morning. He indicated that he is unaware of the property ever granting commuters permission to use the lot. However, they never had a reason to enforce no parking in the past, due to the significant number of vacant stores in this strip center. Those vacant spaces are about to fill, and they need the parking spaces. In the meantime their management has agreed to put the flyer below on vehicles to help ease the pain of moving commuters on from this spot. We are aware that commuters have been asked to move their cars from this lot. Alternative sites for commuter parking are available at the Hillendale Fire Station (corner of Hillendale Road and Dale Blvd), Boys & Girls Club (5070 Dale Blvd), and the PRTC building (off of Telegraph Road). In addition, the VDOT lot at Rt. 123 and I-95 has plenty of available space and improved access for commuters and car-poolers. Also, the Horner Road lot opened 300 additional spaces on 9 July 2001 and will add more spaces within the next 6 months. If you have any questions, please contact Ruth Griggs, Occoquan District Supervisor at (703) 792-4644, (703) 792-4643, or email rgriggs@pwcgov.org. Improvements Planned for the Pentagon Slug Lines (22 June 01) - The following information is from the Design Manager for the new Metro Entrance Facility project at the Pentagon. "We have just entered the final phase of construction on the new bus terminal. The new terminal will be adjacent to the existing terminal and will be completed in November of 2001. The new facility is designed to eliminate the pedestrian/bus conflicts present at the existing terminal. The new facility will also provide a direct link from the subway entrance and the bus terminal to the Fern Street slug lines. The only impact to sluggers will be the relocation of the Springfield line which forms at the last bus bay in the current terminal. WMATA has agreed to assign the bus bay closest to N. Rotary Road to the PRTC Dale City, Montclair bus. This will allow the existing Springfield slug line to operate in November as it does today. The locations of all other slug lines will not be altered. Fern St. lines will operate throughout construction as they did before we began work. Finally, there are a couple of things we are doing to improve access to the slug lines on Fern Street. Yesterday, we opened a new traffic lane on N. Rotary Road for slug use only. This new lane was created to give sluggers headed to Stafford and Fredericksburg a dedicated lane the entire length of N. Rotary Road from Eads St. to Fern St. Hopefully, this will speed their journey since they will no longer have to wait for sluggers headed to lines #1-5 to pass through the Fern Street intersection. We are also preparing to add an additional slug only lane on S. Rotary Road on the approach to Fern Street. This will give sluggers an opportunity to pull off S. Rotary Road 200 feet before the Fern Street intersection and enter the pick up lane for lines #1-4. This modification will begin in the near future and should have no impacts on the existing circulation. Throughout construction, officers from our Defense Protective Service will be on-hand during morning and evening rush hours to assist with traffic flow. It is our goal to get all buses and sluggers through South Parking as quickly as possible. Additional information on the project can be found at http://metro.pentagon.mil I hope I have answered your questions and provided you the information you are looking for. Long John Silvers (AKA Bob's) Update (11 Apr 01) - The Fairfax County DOT has been a true friend of the slugging community as is working hard to resolve the slugging issue in the central Springfield area. They recently sent the following email: "Good Afternoon, Springfield Sluggers Why Not Dale City (27 Mar 01) - A slug sent the following that has been posted both the "hot update" page and on the public message board. Some very good points are brought out and is worth considering. "I'm trying to gauge the interest in a Dale City slug line. There are 3 large, well-lit commuter lots along Dale Blvd convenient to the HOV without getting on I-95 itself. The lots are all county maintained for commuting & always have many empty spaces. The locations are Dale & Lindendale (approx 4 miles fm HOV), Dale & Minnieville (behind Giant, 2 miles fm HOV), and Dale & Gideon (in front of Kmart, small lot, 1/4 mile fm HOV). Far better & safer than nearby Montclair where there are 2 lines with no lights, little parking, hostile residents, and somewhat hazardous locations (traffic-wise). Pls respond via this msg board if interested & give your preferred location. If there is enough response I'll start the process w/e-mail postings, & other info media. Thanks for your time!" Sydenstriker Lot Update from Slug (8 Mar 01)
- "There's an active slug line at the communter lot that's just
off Fairfax County Parkway on the north side at the corner of
Hooes Rd. & Sydenstiicker (sp?). The lot opened last
fall. I think it has about 200 spaces. Mid-week,
the lot fills up between 7:30 & 7:45 am. Drivers still
pick up there after the lot is full. I think people walk from
the neighborhood or park on the streets. I've heard rumors of
additional parking at the church across Hooes Rd., but don't know if
the church really allows this. The standard destination is
Pentagon. Don't know to what extent this lot has replaced the
old Gambril Mobil line. There are still cars parked on the shoulder
of Hooes Rd. by the Mobil station." Click here for link
to Sydenstriker Slug line. |
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