# Attention Washington, DC Commuters



## VirginiaHuguenot (Aug 10, 2006)

Tired of the Beltway traffic jams that have accumulated at the Wilson Bridge choke point over the years? In need of some catharsis? Well, check this out...

It's Payback Time for Wilson Bridge Commuters

Wilson Bridge Detonation Entry Form


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## crhoades (Aug 10, 2006)

I checked this out on snopes.com because it sounded far fetched and made up. The line that made me suspicious was:



> The $2.4 billion Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project is more than 60 percent complete and remains *on schedule and on budget. *


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## Theoretical (Aug 10, 2006)

> _Originally posted by crhoades_
> I checked this out on snopes.com because it sounded far fetched and made up. The line that made me suspicious was:
> 
> 
> ...



So true


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## Puritanhead (Aug 10, 2006)

> _Originally posted by crhoades_
> I checked this out on snopes.com because it sounded far fetched and made up. The line that made me suspicious was:
> 
> 
> ...


 Why do they always name overly expensive public works projects after demagogue Presidents and political leaders?


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## Theoretical (Aug 10, 2006)

Reminds me of our slow-as-tree-sap Interstate 635, which is also known as Lyndon Baines Johnson Freeway here in Dallas. My family and I have been in more snarled, hideous traffic jams there than anywhere else in Dallas. LBJ was and is a bane on society (on both counts), and my disdain of him only grows ever time I drive on this road. Of course, we also have the George Bush Turnpike, named after 41, so the question will be what road or other project gets named after W.


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## Puritanhead (Aug 10, 2006)

I think they should name an interstate after the Patriot Act. Why not give the NAFTA super-corridor highway this honor?

We could call it the "The Patriot Act Celebration of Constitutional Usurpation Freeway." Every white line-marker could have an old copy of the Bill of Rights buried under it. This would be symbolic of how the federal government burys our constitutional liberties and runs roughshod over them every day.

The Bill of Rights


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## VictorBravo (Aug 10, 2006)

> _Originally posted by Puritanhead_
> I think they should name an interstate after the Patriot Act. Why not give the NAFTA super-corridor highway this honor?
> 
> We could call it the "The Patriot Act Celebration of Constitutional Usurpation Freeway." Every white line-marker could have an old copy of the Bill of Rights buried under it. This would be symbolic of how the federal government burys our constitutional liberties and runs roughshod over them every day.
> ...



Don't forget the license plate scanners at each mile post to calculate the toll fee and to monitor your whereabouts.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Aug 10, 2006)

> _Originally posted by Theoretical_
> Reminds me of our slow-as-tree-sap Interstate 635, which is also known as Lyndon Baines Johnson Freeway here in Dallas. My family and I have been in more snarled, hideous traffic jams there than anywhere else in Dallas. LBJ was and is a bane on society (on both counts), and my disdain of him only grows ever time I drive on this road. Of course, we also have the George Bush Turnpike, named after 41, so the question will be what road or other project gets named after W.



Ah, I well remember the LBJ Freeway and the Downtown Mixmaster, as well as the Bush Turnpike.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Aug 10, 2006)

> _Originally posted by crhoades_
> I checked this out on snopes.com because it sounded far fetched and made up. The line that made me suspicious was:
> 
> 
> ...



Yeah, when they first proposed the project, it was supposed to be around $1.5 billion, I think. "On budget" has a fluid definition _inside the Beltway_.


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## jaybird0827 (Aug 10, 2006)

Then there was I-5 between Portland, OR and Vancouver, WA. The HOV lane only made things worse because nobody used it and all the traffic bottlenecked into the other two lanes. And that was a drawbridge over the Columbia River and, yes, during many a rush hour it had to be raised.

I lived in Vancouver and worked in Portland. I set my flex hours to work from 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday so that I could work from 6:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Fridays. Lunch hour traffic was bad enough, but if you got out any later than 2:30 p.m. on a Friday, it was worse than miserable.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Aug 23, 2006)

Md. Commuter Wins Right to Blow Up Wilson Bridge 
August 23, 2006

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - A Maryland commuter who once crushed his hip in a crash on the Wilson Bridge has won the right to bring the old bridge down. 

Dan Ruefly of Accokeek has been selected as the winner of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project's "Toughest Bridge Commute" contest. 

The essay about Ruefly was picked out of 312 entries, and his prize is to trigger the detonation charges that knock down nearly a half-mile stretch of elevated steel girders that supported the old bridge. 

Ruefly, who was nominated by his daughter, has been a five-day-a-week commuter for more than 28 years and faces a two-hour drive in the morning and another 90 minute drive at the end of the day. 

His toughest commute came in September 1999 when he switched lanes and slammed into a stopped tractor-trailer straddling the right lane and the old bridge's four-foot-wide shoulder. 

The detonation is scheduled for 11:59 p.m. on Monday. The four runner-ups also will be invited to attend the detonation.


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## govols (Aug 23, 2006)

> _Originally posted by Puritanhead_
> 
> 
> > _Originally posted by crhoades_
> ...



Sometimes it is a good thing b/c you can fly on Cynthia McKinney Blvd in Atlanta. No cops around - afraid of getting roughed up.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Aug 29, 2006)

Wilson Bridge Span Ceremonially Demolished

By Sandhya Somashekhar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 29, 2006; 2:34 AM

Standing on the roof of an Alexandria apartment building, as cries of "Blow it up!" wafted up from the crowd below, Daniel G. Ruefly and his daughter, Tiffanie, gripped the handle of a 100-year-old detonator and pushed.

Twenty seconds later, just past 12:30 this morning, waves of light rippled through the old Woodrow Wilson Bridge, followed by a shower of sparks that boomed and crackled like powerful fireworks. And with that, half of the aging span tumbled onto the ground below. Well, almost half. An 80-foot section of steel managed to stay riveted in place, and officials were not able immediately to say what caused the error or when the section would be removed.

But the unfinished job didn't wipe the grin off Ruefly's face. The 53-year-old resident of Accokeek, Md., was selected to depress the plunger by the Wilson Bridge Project, which solicited entries for the "toughest bridge commute" earlier this month.

"It was quite a sight to see," said a beaming Ruefly moments after the detonation. "It was worth the wait."

It didn't seem to matter that Ruefly's action was purely ceremonial. A spokesman for the bridge project said that the device he appeared to operate was only a prop, and that when he pushed the plunger, it was nothing more than a signal that the demolition crew could proceed with its business.

The detonation was perhaps the most spectacular chapter of the decades-long history of the bridge's repair and replacement, scheduled to be finished in 2011. Crews have been dismantling the old span incrementally since earlier this summer, and expect to take down the last section next year.

The half-mile section of steel girders demolished last night was the largest chunk to go, and it went quickly -- in two-tenths of a second, officials said. A series of simultaneous high-intensity charges were expected to slice the girders cleanly into 40-foot sections, which were to be carted to a salvage yard by truck.

Officials widely promoted the contest and provided broad access to the community, which turned out in the hundreds to watch the spectacle.

"We wanted to recognize the patience and pain of the public in waiting for the new bridge to open," said John Undeland, spokesman for the project. "Also, we wanted to make sure everyone on the planet knew about it, so they didn't hear a big boom and wonder what else it could be."

The publicity backfired in some ways. Authorities took extra precautions to keep cars and thrill-seekers out of the area, even diverting air traffic around the time of the detonation. State police stopped beltway traffic before and after the blast, and Alexandria police sealed off a 500-foot perimeter around the bridge to ensure that people stay out of harm's way.

But spectators still managed to sneak onto a nearby cemetery, and clearing them from the premises caused a 15-minute delay in the detonation. It was delayed further when cars streaming across the bridge from the Maryland side stopped dead on the span to snap photos or try unsuccessfully to catch a view of the blast.

Hundreds of onlookers crowded onto the Washington Street overpass in Alexandria, a lane of which was shut down to accommodate the throngs. People had come from as far as Baltimore to be part of the event, hoping to catch a glimpse of a rare sight in the D.C. area, where construction -- not demolition -- seems to be the norm these days.

"I want to see it blow up," said Brian Beavers, 30, a tow truck driver who has rescued many a stranded vehicle on the old span. "No offense, but that thing needs to come down."

Others had mixed feelings over the affair. Carl Rush, 51, a Presbyterian minister who lives about five blocks away, said has watched the bridge's progress from his vantage point at a community garden on Jones Point. The old span, he said, is like part of the neighborhood.

"It's a love-hate thing for sure," said Rush, who had come to watch the scene with his poodle Sully. "The old one was pretty quant. The new one is rather stark. I hope it gains some personality."


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