FA+
Shop
Disaster Commute
15 years ago
General
Everyone has their own story to tell about the disaster commute of January 26, 2011, a day when a perfect confluence of winter weather and traffic brought the greater Washington, DC, area to a standstill. There are tales of 13-hour odysseys, of abandoned cars and abandoned hopes, followed by perilous treks on foot through the heavy snow to whatever shelter could be found. The epic jam on the George Washington Parkway is the stuff of local legend. My own personal purgatory was Waxpool Road in Loudoun County.
I was working at a job in Ashburn. The job had already been one fiasco after another, with miscommunication, unexpected obstacles, and enough frustrations to choke a horse. On Wednesday we were scheduled to start at 6 AM. When I woke up at home at 4, I was mildly surprised to already see snow on the ground - the last I had heard before going to bed was that it wasn't supposed to start snowing until later in the day. On my way out to Ashburn, I saw my first disabled vehicle of the day - an Audi turned sideways across Route 28 - but I made it to the job without incident. My coworker wasn't quite as lucky; he slid on an icy hill and smashed his taillight against a guardrail. During the day the snow turned to rain, the rain turned to sleet, and the sleet turned back to snow. By 5 PM, it was clear that the job was not going to be finished that day and the weather was not going to improve. The decision was made to call it a day.
I loaded up my 1998 Honda Civic, cranked the defroster up to high, put the shifter in Low, and set out for my home in Falls Church, 25 miles to the east. At first, things were going smoothly. The roads were snow-covered but passable, and I was in no hurry. A Hummer H2 rumbled past in the opposite direction on Ashburn Road, somehow contriving to look cocky in the treacherous weather. I made it to Farmwell Road without incident. Farmwell was effectively reduced to one lane in the eastbound direction, but what little traffic there was was flowing and the road soon opened up again into it's normal two lane configuration. As I began to catch up to other cars, the pace slowed. At one intersection, we were again squeezed to one lane by a fender bender in the right lane. I saw a Nissan Altima spin out in the westbound lanes. Eastbound traffic got slower. And slower. And slower. By the time Farmwell changed into Waxpool, traffic was stopped.
The snow continued to fall. The wind was out of the north, driving the wet, heavy fluff against the driver's side of my eastbound Honda. The defroster kept the windshield and the front side window clear, but the rear side window quickly became obscured. Behind me, the snow was accumulating faster than my rear window defroster could melt it. I had a spare sandwich leftover from lunch; I ate it. I called home a little before 6 to let my parents know I was going to be late.
By 7, I had crept through maybe one more intersection; I have no idea which one - all the signs were obscured by snow. I had made it as far as the bridge over Broad Run. Several times I shifted into park just so I could take my foot off the brake pedal and flex my leg joints. A couple times I got out to clear the snow off my windows and mirrors, but it was a losing battle. I called home again; my dad suggested it might be a good idea to try and find a hotel to spend the night. Unfortunately, the only hotel I had seen in the past couple hours was on the left, and I was trapped in the right lane. This was not the time to try and change lanes, as a ridge of slush and snow had built up between the lanes. Time and traffic crept forward at an achingly slow rate. I wrote down the time and odometer reading on a sticky note.
By 8, the odometer had crept forward two tenths of a mile. I watched a Nissan 350Z make forward progress through an intersection - sideways. I got a call from the supervisor at the Ashburn job; he had decided that working out there on Thursday would not be feasible.
I had stopped watching the clock by the time I finally got within sight of the onramp from Waxpool onto southbound Route 28. I could see flashing lights - orange and blue - on the ramp. A pair of people trudged by on foot, carrying a red gas can. A number of cars were struggling up the hill on Waxpool just past the ramp, many of them getting stuck halfway. A driver in a Mercedes-Benz M-Class SUV tried to make a U-turn from the left lane onto westbound Waxpool; he high-centered on the snow-covered concrete median and got stuck. A driver in a BMW 3-Series who had been trying to get on the southbound ramp thought better of it; a couple drivers got out of their cars to give him a push so he could change lanes. I had given up all hope of making it to Falls Church.
Traffic began to flow again; whatever was blocking the ramp must have been cleared. The ramp was a slalom course around disabled and abandoned vehicles - left around the Ford Mustang, right around the Nissan Stanza, and so on, including a tow truck trying to retrieve a GMC Envoy that was twenty feet off the side of the road.
Traffic was heavy on 28, but at least appeared to be moving - except for the cars abandoned on either shoulder. I began to think I might be able to make it to the Dulles Toll Road, which I had heard was mostly clear. In the distance, I could see a hotel towering over the next exit, at Sterling Boulevard. In the nearer distance, I could see only a string of red brakelights. The offramp looked clear, so I made a break for it and scrambled up the ramp. At the top, a bright green Peapod delivery van was stuck in the snow to the left. A couple people were pushing a Mitsubishi 3000GT up the hill. Sterling Boulevard was wonderfully clear of traffic and I began hunting for a hotel. I stopped at a Comfort Inn, a Hampton Inn, and Best Western, but none had any vacancies. The clerk at the Best Western told me all the hotels in the area were full. Between commuters with the same idea as me and cancelled flights at Dulles Airport, I wasn't terribly surprised.
I checked my map and realized I wasn't too far from my office in Herndon. I made my way from the Best Western down a lumpy, slushy back road to Old Ox Road (Route 606). Traffic on eastbound Old Ox was heavy and slow, but not nearly as bad as Waxpool. I could see westbound was not as lucky; a pair of evergreens had fallen across the road and completely blocked it and a Dodge Ram was trying to pull them out of the way. On eastbound I saw a Ford F-150 stuck in the snow off to the right; it took me a moment to realize it was facing the wrong way. Right before the intersection with the Herndon Parkway, a Honda Prelude was struggling uphill - sideways.
The Herndon Parkway was even clearer than Sterling Boulevard, though still snow-covered. I began to get confident, perhaps even cocky. When the turn to get to my office came, I didn't slow down nearly as much as I should have, especially since the entrance to the office park hadn't been properly plowed. I didn't so much turn as slide. The wheel locked up and I thought I was going to jump the curb. Fortunately I stopped in time and with extra caution I wheeled my way into the parking lot. Much to my Civic's credit, this was the only time during the whole adventure when it faltered. The time was just after 10 PM. It had taken me five hours to drive from Ashburn to Herndon, a distance of 10 miles.
I called home to let my parents know where I would be spending the night. I bought a bottle of water from the vending machine in the atrium, took off my work boots, and, using my jacket as a pillow, curled up on the floor under my desk to get some sleep.
On Thursday, I was the first one at the office, eating Pop-Tarts from the atrium vending machine. At 11:30 I got a call that the client at the Ashburn job really wanted it finished and they had found another crew to get it done. The original supervisor wasn't answering his phone; I eventually learned it had taken him 12 hours to get home, at which time he had promptly gone to sleep. With clear roads, I made the trip from Herndon to Ashburn in less than half an hour.
When the job was finally finished at 10:30 PM on Thursday, the Mustang was still stuck off the ramp from Waxpool to Route 28.
I was working at a job in Ashburn. The job had already been one fiasco after another, with miscommunication, unexpected obstacles, and enough frustrations to choke a horse. On Wednesday we were scheduled to start at 6 AM. When I woke up at home at 4, I was mildly surprised to already see snow on the ground - the last I had heard before going to bed was that it wasn't supposed to start snowing until later in the day. On my way out to Ashburn, I saw my first disabled vehicle of the day - an Audi turned sideways across Route 28 - but I made it to the job without incident. My coworker wasn't quite as lucky; he slid on an icy hill and smashed his taillight against a guardrail. During the day the snow turned to rain, the rain turned to sleet, and the sleet turned back to snow. By 5 PM, it was clear that the job was not going to be finished that day and the weather was not going to improve. The decision was made to call it a day.
I loaded up my 1998 Honda Civic, cranked the defroster up to high, put the shifter in Low, and set out for my home in Falls Church, 25 miles to the east. At first, things were going smoothly. The roads were snow-covered but passable, and I was in no hurry. A Hummer H2 rumbled past in the opposite direction on Ashburn Road, somehow contriving to look cocky in the treacherous weather. I made it to Farmwell Road without incident. Farmwell was effectively reduced to one lane in the eastbound direction, but what little traffic there was was flowing and the road soon opened up again into it's normal two lane configuration. As I began to catch up to other cars, the pace slowed. At one intersection, we were again squeezed to one lane by a fender bender in the right lane. I saw a Nissan Altima spin out in the westbound lanes. Eastbound traffic got slower. And slower. And slower. By the time Farmwell changed into Waxpool, traffic was stopped.
The snow continued to fall. The wind was out of the north, driving the wet, heavy fluff against the driver's side of my eastbound Honda. The defroster kept the windshield and the front side window clear, but the rear side window quickly became obscured. Behind me, the snow was accumulating faster than my rear window defroster could melt it. I had a spare sandwich leftover from lunch; I ate it. I called home a little before 6 to let my parents know I was going to be late.
By 7, I had crept through maybe one more intersection; I have no idea which one - all the signs were obscured by snow. I had made it as far as the bridge over Broad Run. Several times I shifted into park just so I could take my foot off the brake pedal and flex my leg joints. A couple times I got out to clear the snow off my windows and mirrors, but it was a losing battle. I called home again; my dad suggested it might be a good idea to try and find a hotel to spend the night. Unfortunately, the only hotel I had seen in the past couple hours was on the left, and I was trapped in the right lane. This was not the time to try and change lanes, as a ridge of slush and snow had built up between the lanes. Time and traffic crept forward at an achingly slow rate. I wrote down the time and odometer reading on a sticky note.
By 8, the odometer had crept forward two tenths of a mile. I watched a Nissan 350Z make forward progress through an intersection - sideways. I got a call from the supervisor at the Ashburn job; he had decided that working out there on Thursday would not be feasible.
I had stopped watching the clock by the time I finally got within sight of the onramp from Waxpool onto southbound Route 28. I could see flashing lights - orange and blue - on the ramp. A pair of people trudged by on foot, carrying a red gas can. A number of cars were struggling up the hill on Waxpool just past the ramp, many of them getting stuck halfway. A driver in a Mercedes-Benz M-Class SUV tried to make a U-turn from the left lane onto westbound Waxpool; he high-centered on the snow-covered concrete median and got stuck. A driver in a BMW 3-Series who had been trying to get on the southbound ramp thought better of it; a couple drivers got out of their cars to give him a push so he could change lanes. I had given up all hope of making it to Falls Church.
Traffic began to flow again; whatever was blocking the ramp must have been cleared. The ramp was a slalom course around disabled and abandoned vehicles - left around the Ford Mustang, right around the Nissan Stanza, and so on, including a tow truck trying to retrieve a GMC Envoy that was twenty feet off the side of the road.
Traffic was heavy on 28, but at least appeared to be moving - except for the cars abandoned on either shoulder. I began to think I might be able to make it to the Dulles Toll Road, which I had heard was mostly clear. In the distance, I could see a hotel towering over the next exit, at Sterling Boulevard. In the nearer distance, I could see only a string of red brakelights. The offramp looked clear, so I made a break for it and scrambled up the ramp. At the top, a bright green Peapod delivery van was stuck in the snow to the left. A couple people were pushing a Mitsubishi 3000GT up the hill. Sterling Boulevard was wonderfully clear of traffic and I began hunting for a hotel. I stopped at a Comfort Inn, a Hampton Inn, and Best Western, but none had any vacancies. The clerk at the Best Western told me all the hotels in the area were full. Between commuters with the same idea as me and cancelled flights at Dulles Airport, I wasn't terribly surprised.
I checked my map and realized I wasn't too far from my office in Herndon. I made my way from the Best Western down a lumpy, slushy back road to Old Ox Road (Route 606). Traffic on eastbound Old Ox was heavy and slow, but not nearly as bad as Waxpool. I could see westbound was not as lucky; a pair of evergreens had fallen across the road and completely blocked it and a Dodge Ram was trying to pull them out of the way. On eastbound I saw a Ford F-150 stuck in the snow off to the right; it took me a moment to realize it was facing the wrong way. Right before the intersection with the Herndon Parkway, a Honda Prelude was struggling uphill - sideways.
The Herndon Parkway was even clearer than Sterling Boulevard, though still snow-covered. I began to get confident, perhaps even cocky. When the turn to get to my office came, I didn't slow down nearly as much as I should have, especially since the entrance to the office park hadn't been properly plowed. I didn't so much turn as slide. The wheel locked up and I thought I was going to jump the curb. Fortunately I stopped in time and with extra caution I wheeled my way into the parking lot. Much to my Civic's credit, this was the only time during the whole adventure when it faltered. The time was just after 10 PM. It had taken me five hours to drive from Ashburn to Herndon, a distance of 10 miles.
I called home to let my parents know where I would be spending the night. I bought a bottle of water from the vending machine in the atrium, took off my work boots, and, using my jacket as a pillow, curled up on the floor under my desk to get some sleep.
On Thursday, I was the first one at the office, eating Pop-Tarts from the atrium vending machine. At 11:30 I got a call that the client at the Ashburn job really wanted it finished and they had found another crew to get it done. The original supervisor wasn't answering his phone; I eventually learned it had taken him 12 hours to get home, at which time he had promptly gone to sleep. With clear roads, I made the trip from Herndon to Ashburn in less than half an hour.
When the job was finally finished at 10:30 PM on Thursday, the Mustang was still stuck off the ramp from Waxpool to Route 28.
rubbervixen
~rubbervixen
One of your more terrifying tales, certainly. Glad you made it all right.
Kinto_Mythostian
~kintomythostian
OP
I had it better than many: I had food handy, I'd just filled the gas tank on Monday, and it's hard to spin out at less than 1 MPH. It wasn't so much terrifying as unbelievable. It didn't feel like five hours when I was sitting in it; because I wasn't moving I didn't really feel like time was moving either. I got to the office and it dawned on me that I had been in the car for five hours and gone almost nowhere. I have never driven through anything like that before (and I don't much want to again), or seen that many abandoned vehicles.
