Road Rage #7: When a belt is not a belt...

Picture of a Belt

Picture of DMV's I-495 (Capital Beltway)

Using the word "beltway" to describe DMV's (DC, MD, VA) I-495 is theoretically correct since I-495 is an encircling road that closely resembles the shape of a belt, but how would commuters of the Capital Beltway describe its shape?  Some I-495 commuters would probably agree that the Capital Beltway is an encircling road that closely resembles a belt, but numerous others would strongly disagree with that assessment because of one particular area of Capital Beltway outer-loop just before the I-270 exit in Silver Spring, Maryland.  I have dubbed this area as the "Turns of Death".

Turns of Death near I-270 Exit

As you can plainly see from the picture above, the area before the I-270 exit on the outer-loop of the Capital Beltway breaks away from the "belt" shape.  It is a maze of twists and turns.  The development of the beltway in this area was devised with a complete disregard for human safety and well-being.  It is hard to distinguish from the picture, but these twists/turns on the Capital Beltway's outer-loop before the I-270 exit are quite severe in many locations, and it requires drivers to navigate them at a disproportionally high speed.

According to Wikipedia, the I-270 exit off the Capital Beltway is considered the 3rd worst bottleneck intersection in the nation.  There is no doubt in my mind that most of the problems with this intersection should be attributed to a high volume of cars, but also I see how the Turns of Death before the I-270 exit are the primary precursor to intersection's volume issues.  Officials have proposed metro changes (creation of the purple line) and have recently started building alternative roads (Inter-County Connector) to curb the high volume issue, but what about the Turns of Death?  Nothing is in the works to eliminate the Turns of Death, even though the same types of weaving issues were resolved on the Beltway near I-95, I-395, and I-495 in Virginia with the completion of the Springfield Interchange in 2007.

But why do I care? I don't even live there...

Obvious answer, I love to gripe, but I have to deal with the horrific driving circumstances created by the Turns of Death every time I want to visit friends from Montgomery County or ski in the mountains.  Maybe it's bad luck, but I have to yet to experience a "clean" trip from home to anywhere on I-270.  90% of the time, the problems occur around the Turns of Death before I reach the I-270 exit off the Capital Beltway.  It amazes me how that road will find a way to be congested at two am in the middle of the night on a weekday!!*

*It's pretty obvious to me that this is a result of too many DC commuters/visitors living in Montgomery County, but I'll gripe in more detail about that sometime in the future.

The easiest way to survive the Turns of Death is to develop incredible patience as a driver - accidents are not occasional here, they are constant.  If one cannot achieve epic patience as a driver, then avoiding the Turns of Death is your only other option.  Heed my warning or suffer dearly...

Consequences may include stress, yelling, lateness, anger, fatigue, loss of mind, heart attack, stroke, dementia, headaches, sexual side effects, diarrhea, dry mouth, and/or nausea . Take the Turns of Death only when you have at least three extra hours to devote for travel.  Talk to your doctor before taking the Turns of Death, the #1 cause for road rage.