New slug
Printed From: Slug-Lines.com
Category: General Slugging Questions and Comments
Forum Name: Morning Slug Lines
Forum Description: Enter comments for all slug lines going into the city.
URL: http://www.slug-lines.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=228
Printed Date: 22 Nov 2024 at 4:47pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.10 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: New slug
Posted By: Cindi0601
Subject: New slug
Date Posted: 14 Sep 2002 at 12:58pm
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I'll be commuting to DC soon, and am new to this game. I hear that slugging is the way to go. The Rt. 3/Gordon Rd. lot would be easiest for me. I'll be going to the Federal Triangle area - our office will be on 15th St., NW, between F and G Streets. Assuming I'd be returning from a 14th St. slug line. Can anyone tell me if the Rt. 3 line would work for me, or would I be better off starting from Rt. 17 or even 610? Would I have any difficulty getting from 14th St. back to Rt. 3? If so, are there other reasonable options for getting home? Thank you! Cindi |
Replies:
Posted By: USA
Date Posted: 16 Sep 2002 at 8:13am
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If you're considering Route 3, make sure you read the thread about the BO lady in the "General Slugging Topics" thread: http://www.slug-lines.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=242 - Link to thread (it is three pages long) quote: |
Posted By: kortegel
Date Posted: 16 Sep 2002 at 12:22pm
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In light of the advice provided above, I can only say that from Rt. 17 there are a fair amount of slug drivers going "downtown", although their existence seems sparse these last few weeks (probably temporary). Whether you choose Rt. 3 or Rt. 17, the Pentagon in the p.m. seems like the best option for you in the afternoon. I have not had to personally deal with the "B.O. Lady" as I do not ride to Rt.3, but it seems as though ridership at Rt. 17 has gone up since her emergence (makes me feel like I'm describing a Big Foot sighting). K.O. |
Posted By: USA
Date Posted: 16 Sep 2002 at 12:44pm
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I think it sounds more like a "Seinfeld" episode....I'm thinking of the one where Kramer called Jerry an "anti-dentite." Perhaps the Rte. 3 drivers are "anti-scentites." I haven't dealt with the BO lady either because I live near Springfield, but I follow the thread because I frequently travel south on Fridays--well, and because it's funny  .quote: |
Posted By: Cindi0601
Date Posted: 28 Sep 2002 at 7:26pm
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Thanks for your input. Looks like I'll be the driver for awhile - working long hours initially, so will be picking up slugs in the a.m. only. |
Posted By: shelbybrynn
Date Posted: 30 Sep 2002 at 9:27am
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If you are going to be a driver, why not try the Route 630 lot. It is easy to get in and out of and we need drivers since it is a newly formed line... Tisa Shillingburg |
Posted By: Cindi0601
Date Posted: 04 Oct 2002 at 10:31pm
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Tisa - Just to show you what a novice I really am - where IS the 630 line?? I'd be happy to pick up there. Thanks for your help! Cindi |
Posted By: Admin
Date Posted: 07 Oct 2002 at 1:38pm
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Take a look at: http://www.slug-lines.com/AM_Lines/route-630.asp |
Posted By: shelbybrynn
Date Posted: 07 Oct 2002 at 1:57pm
Thanks Admin!! I truly appreciate your help. Tisa Shillingburg |
Posted By: Arbo
Date Posted: 08 Oct 2002 at 7:28am
Cindi - which lot did you decide to use? I tried Rt 630 this AM and it went well (got to the 630 Commuter lot at ~6:10AM, walking in to the Pentagon at 7:03AM). |
Posted By: Cindi0601
Date Posted: 13 Oct 2002 at 2:30pm
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I haven't started yet - I'm estimating 11/1. Waiting for our D.C. office to open. Right now, I'm still in Chantilly. I'm looking forward to trying the 630 lot! |
Posted By: kortegel
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2002 at 9:00am
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If you're closest to the Rt. 3 lot, don't let these other jokers talk you into going to 630. I understand their attempt to build up their stop but after you drop off your slugs in the evening, you're going to be a considerable distance from home yet...plus the ramp going south on I-95 from 630 is an absolute death trap. Do what's most convenient for YOU, not THEM. K.O. |
Posted By: USA
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2002 at 10:40am
How do any of you folks feel about this sniper business, especially the Route 3 folks given that he struck once on Route 3 and once at the next exit down the highway?quote: |
Posted By: shelbybrynn
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2002 at 11:20am
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Kortegel, What on earth are you talking about the ramp going to southbound I-95 being a "death trap"? It is a standard merge situation and the merge lane is actually quite long so that you have plenty of time to merge over. It's only a "death trap" if you have difficulty with the concept of merging in which case you shouldn't be using I-95 at all!! Cindi can choose which lot she wants to use, whether it's by convenience or timing but you shouldn't be giving her false information. |
Posted By: Cooper
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2002 at 12:09pm
quote: |
Posted By: Cooper
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2002 at 12:14pm
I'm very concerned about sniper business. Have not slugged since last week. Am praying they will catch this crazy.quote: |
Posted By: shelbybrynn
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2002 at 12:52pm
| I am quite concerned about it too. We as slugs are "sitting ducks" while we are waiting for rides. I take back my suggestion that slugs wait for rides right by the road at Route 630 until this crazy person is caught. My slug buddies and I waited in my car until a driver showed up because it really isn't safe for us to be standing out in the open, especially when most of the lots are right off of the interstate. So please everyone stay safe and look out for one another. |
Posted By: USA
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2002 at 1:04pm
The constant arguing that's going on lately may turn off any new people who come to these boards looking for information.quote: |
Posted By: shelbybrynn
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2002 at 1:10pm
| I am not trying to argue with Kortegel but I feel that is blatant misinformation that he/she passed along regarding the Route 630 exit ramp onto southbound I-95. I have lived off of Route 630 for 25 years and that information that he/she was attempting to get out is simply not true, there is no difficulty in merging from the ramp onto I-95 south. |
Posted By: tdar20
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2002 at 1:14pm
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Death trap may be a bit strong but Shelly it is not all that easy either. Any of the merges along 95: 17, 630 or 610 are all difficult to manage on some days. A heads up to any perspective driver on those ramps...keep your eyes open, traffic is not always willing to let you in! |
Posted By: USA
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2002 at 1:38pm
I didn't mean just that post per se and I understand your point--and I also understand Kortegel's point. I just meant that it seems like there has been a lot of sniping back and forth recently among several groups, and if I were a new person I might look at it all and go somewhere else.quote: Edited by - USA on 15 Oct 2002 13:39:02 |
Posted By: kortegel
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2002 at 2:06pm
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You may have no problem using the ramps as is, but I honestly have experienced great difficulty at these off ramps. I've been driving for quite a while now in many different places across the country and I feel that the southbound ramp off 630 is a tad shorter than standard. As Tdar20 agreed, it's not easy to get people to let you in. Very rarely do I use every inch of asphalt to make a merge off a ramp, but my experiences using 630 have forced me to do exactly that which is why I avoid it at all costs. Just because my experience differs from yours does not warrant it being categorized as "misinformation". Case in point...whenever I'm northbound on I-95 going past the Rt. 610 exit, I get into the far left lane because that's an nasty accident waiting to happen at any given time of the day...the merge for entering and exiting traffic is very short and there doesn't seem to be a time that I'm going by that I DON'T see two drivers almost bite it. K.O. |
Posted By: shelbybrynn
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2002 at 2:30pm
| I have driven on that ramp almost every day for 25 years now and I have never had any troubles there. I actually looked up the specifications at VDOT and the Route 630 ramp is actually longer than the others in the area with the exception of Route 17 northbound ramp. What's also good to note is that Route 630's ramp is not complicated by other traffic trying to merge "in" while you are trying to merge "out" (the cloverleaf effect which is in effect at Routes 3 and 610). There is nothing wrong with any of the ramps at Route 630 and as with any driving situation you just need to be aware of your surroundings and drive defensively. |
Posted By: kortegel
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2002 at 3:02pm
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You can blow stats until you're blue in the face. All I know is that it's difficult in my opinion. People just don't want to move over a lane to let you in no matter how long the ramp is. I'll just let others decide if it's difficult or not. I just know my own experience. And while the cloverleaf concept is a good one, the one at 610 would be adequately described as a mini-clover. It is much smaller than usual. Compare the Rt. 7 cloverleaf off of I-495. There is a lot of distance between the spot where cars merge in and the spot where cars merge out. At 610 you get like 50 feet to pass the merge in spot and get on the off ramp. Anyone who has driven past this on a regular basis does exactly what I do -- get to the far left to avoid unnecessary collision because of people jockeying for the middle and right lanes during this exchange. I don't care how long you've lived here...you can't say that this is not the case. K.O. |
Posted By: shelbybrynn
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2002 at 3:14pm
| I am in total agreement that the Route 610 "mini-cloverleaf" design is a tricky situation but the Route 630 ramp has never been a problem (the merging lane is a long one according to VDOT). Any merging situation can be dangerous because there are so many people that are not from this area who use the interstate who don't get over to the middle lane to let people merge in safely. I think your description of it as a "death trap" is what was offensive to me and others who are trying to get the lot going there. |
Posted By: kortegel
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2002 at 3:25pm
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You are aware that I was talking about 630 SOUTHbound, right? Northbound is fine in fact I just took it yesterday and avoided that nasty accident just south of there in the afternoon. But the southbound ramp, I will continue to attest, is very bad. Regardless of all that, I wasn't knocking that so much as I was people's attempts to talk Cindi into driving all the way to 630 to pick up and drop off slugs when Route 3 is the most convenient for her, and other than that there is nothing wrong with Route 17. I'm thinking of HER best interests particularly in the afternoon...if she were to pick up 630 slugs, she still has quite a ways to go to Route 3, and that stretch of road is sometimes backed up pretty good. And if she were to go to 630 to park and ride as slug, she would be subject to that possibility without a second option. While I applaud your attempts to start a new line, and the existence of it makes no difference to me since I slug from Rt. 17, your attempts to get someone from as far away as Route 3 to utilize the 630 slug stop seems a bit self-serving. I tried to revive the afternoon slugline from L'Enfant to Route 17, but I didn't solicit folks who go to 14th street. It would have made no sense for them to do such a thing, but alas, that is the equivalent of what you're doing here...trying to talk someone into using a slug line that is more in the interests of others than her own. Funny how I've mentioned this point in my earlier posts, but the attack has been about the other things I've said instead of the larger issue at hand. K.O. |
Posted By: shelbybrynn
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2002 at 3:41pm
| I have been discussing the Route 630 southbound ramp. It is not any more difficult to negotiate than any of the other merge lane in the area (it's actually longer than most). As for Cyndi using the new Route 630 slug-line rather than Route 3. Maybe she lives on the other side of Route 3 opposite of the commuter lots and doesn't want to sit in the Route 3 traffic going that way, maybe she doesn't like to negotiate the merge area on Route 3 near the Mall/Central Park if she doesn't have to, maybe she gets to the Route 3 commuter lot and there is no one there so she decides to head north and try the Route 630 lot, maybe she wants to avoid the B.O. lady. She asked for info, I provided some to her. |
Posted By: tdar20
Date Posted: 16 Oct 2002 at 1:29pm
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Just remember it is all about "perspective." And Shelly: believe it or not there are a few bad things about 630. Just depends on your perspective. |
Posted By: shelbybrynn
Date Posted: 16 Oct 2002 at 1:44pm
| I have never said that the Route 630 lot will work for everyone. However, the information that was posted by kortegel about the southbound ramp was incorrect. The specifications about the length of merge lanes is not my perspective, it's a fact. There is no problem with the merge lanes on Route 630 they are longer than most. |
Posted By: USA
Date Posted: 16 Oct 2002 at 1:47pm
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Amen to that! There have been a lot of postings lately about how "good" or how "bad" particular slug lots are, and some of the people doing the posting seem to feel as though their opinions are unimpeachable, but they're all just that--OPINIONS.... As to this thread--Kortegel feels that merging from 630 is difficult, so who is anyone else to say he's wrong? Maybe he had trouble there. The length of the ramp has nothing to do with it. Shelbybrynn feels that it's not difficult and is proud of the length of the ramp (as she has pointed it out four times), and who's to say that she's wrong either? Maybe she doesn't have trouble. My point is that if the purpose of the thread--which has gotten lost--was to provide suggestions to a new slug, then people should provide their own opinions and not attack others for doing the same, since it seems like that might just turn off the new slug. quote: |
Posted By: USA
Date Posted: 16 Oct 2002 at 1:49pm
quote: Oops....five times. The fifth one appeared while I was writing my message |
Posted By: kortegel
Date Posted: 16 Oct 2002 at 2:24pm
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I think that some people apparently just like to see their own words in print. It's incredible that one person can have over 100 posts and only have been a member for a month. There must not be enough work to go around somewhere... K.O. |
Posted By: shelbybrynn
Date Posted: 16 Oct 2002 at 3:48pm
| LOL, look who's talking!!! The reason I have so many posts in such a short time is that I am trying to get a new line started and the reason I am responding to your post is that it is hard enough to get a new line started without people trying to pass their opinions off as truths. The only thing I had issues with is the information you were trying to pass off to people was untrue. It is a matter of opinion if YOU have a hard time merging there but to be quite honest if you have a hard time merging there, you must really have a hard time when you try to merge on 95 from Routes 3 or 610 or onto Route 3 from 95!! The FACT that the 630 southbound merge lane is longer than most speaks for itself. |
Posted By: USA
Date Posted: 16 Oct 2002 at 4:02pm
quote: You will no doubt tell me I'm wrong, but I think your posts often come across as trying to pass opinions off as truths, although I'd say your posts seem try to pass them off as "facts" instead of as "truths." (Don't bother repeating the point about the length of the ramp for a seventh time--that is a fact, but it's also a proverbial red herring.) Kortegel didn't post anything "untrue." Neither, to my knowledge, have you. |
Posted By: Patricia
Date Posted: 17 Oct 2002 at 10:07am
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I feel sorry for anyone trying to get useful information about slugging from any of these message board on this site. They have to wade through so many messages that are a waste of time and space and in no way related to the topics at hand. It unfortunate that these boards have turned into such a mess of messages about nothing... Patricia Stafford/610 |
Posted By: Jessie
Date Posted: 17 Oct 2002 at 11:45am
| The Route 630 lot is a new slug-line and we don't need people passing their opinions off as facts and labeling something a "death-trap" just because that particular person has problems merging. The people who are working hard to get the 630 lot off the ground don't need that. If kortegel has a problem merging there, even though the merge lane is longer than most, he/she should just say "I have difficulty merging there" and not use such offensive language as "death trap". The people who are successfully slugging from 630 are going to continue to stand up for themselves. Especially when the person making the comment doesn't live off of Route 630 and doesn't slug from there either, they are hardly an expert on the subject. Shelbybrynn however has said that she has lived off of Route 630 for 25 years now and she said she never has had problems merging there!! |
Posted By: kortegel
Date Posted: 17 Oct 2002 at 1:30pm
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This dead horse has been beat DEAD a long time now! Thank you for your untimely, unnecessary input. K.O. |
Posted By: thirdbag
Date Posted: 30 Oct 2002 at 3:55pm
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Cindi I slug from Rt. 3 every morning and know there are people headed into DC but usually take rides to the Pentagon. If you drive pull up and announce your destination. Taking people home at night to 610 might work well for you though since nobody has organized a different PM place to catch to Rt. 3. That is what sluggin is all about, the ease of picking up and dropping off at different locations and times.[:D] quote: thirdbag |
Posted By: Cindi0601
Date Posted: 07 Dec 2002 at 11:18am
| Thanks to those who provided useful information. I actually live off of Rt. 208 in Spotsylvania, so I can access many of the lots fairly easily. Closest on-ramp for me is actually at Massaponax, but I can also go to Rt. 3. I'm interested in the 630 lot primarily because I'm looking for something a bit less congested than some of the other lots. I don't mind driving the distance to 630, since I have to go that way, anyhow. Doesn't really matter. I was also interested in the possibility that this lot (630) had more folks like me, who prefer to sleep in a little bit, and not leave for work at the crack of dawn. (I don't know if it's worked out that way, but I know that was the initial idea.) |
Posted By: Al Rios
Date Posted: 09 Dec 2002 at 11:31am
quote: |