On my way to my job in Washington on Aug. 11, I passed a half-mile's worth of cars idling on the shoulder of Interstate 95 waiting to exit at mile markers 148 and 153 for Marine Corps Base Quantico.
My wife works on the base, and she pulls off onto the shoulder each morning, as well. I pray that cars driving to points north pay attention and don't slam into her at 65 mph while she idles there like a sitting duck.
It's not if but when that's going to happen to someone.
The shoulder of a major highway is a dangerous place. The thought of the Marine Corps' inadequate infrastructure putting my wife in danger enrages me.
This got me to thinking back to an article published in The Free Lance-Star on April 11 ["Quantico takes aim at easing congestion"]. It talks about the Marine Corps' efforts to encourage people to use van pools, VRE, or other ride-sharing arrangements.
All of these require adjustments by the employee. What was missing from the article was any mention of adjustments
There was no mention of stepping up efforts to increase teleworking, despite the fact that the Federal Times reported in 2009 that 102,900 government employees telework and that OPM continues to push for an increase in numbers.
There was no mention of encouraging managers to stagger employee schedules to spread out the gate traffic, and no mention of increasing the number of lanes on base.
The only Marine Corps adjustment mentioned was the recent road construction. Not only are these road improvements years overdue and will fail to improve traffic throughout at the gates, they are now possible only because BRAC money, not Marine Corps money, is being used.
If it were not for BRAC, this construction would be unfunded.
The situation each morning is unacceptable, and I see no efforts being made to improve upon it.
Rob Davis
Stafford