William World News William F. Yurasko's blog v.14 – Nats, Penn State, Redskins, greater DC , travel, more

Since news broke that 3 Northern Virginia county parkways were getting new state route numbers, Google has already updated their maps for two of them. First, the Prince William Parkway and its new route 294 was updated. As of this morning, the Franconia-Springfield Parkway is now shown with primary Virginia state route 289.
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Oddly, [...]

The news that several Northern Virginia county parkways would get new state route numbers only broke in the last few days and already Google Maps has the new Prince William Parkway route number, 294, posted. The original number, 3000, is still shown as well.
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That was fast! Maybe too fast since the numbers won’t [...]

3 commuter routes to be renamed – WTOP
Three Northern Virginia county parkways that were built as secondary highways will be “promoted” to primary state highways.
The Commonwealth Transportation Board approved the transfer to VDOT Thursday.
The move converts the three thoroughfares into primary roads, meaning they may be eligible for new funding and maintenance priorities. The routes [...]

Cash cows Fairfax, MontCo shorted in state aid – The Wash. Examiner
Great article on how much Northern Virginia residents get ripped off by the Commonwealth of Virginia with state taxes.
Fairfax County, home to one-seventh of Virginia’s population, generated $2.6 billion in non transportation revenue for the commonwealth in 2010, according to county figures, but [...]

Remember several years ago when I posted that Alexandria, Va. was the most romantic city in the U.S. according to amazon.com? Remember how I pointed out that it might be a good thing?
It has been suggested that perhaps the criteria amazon.com uses, “sales data of romance novels, relationship and sex books” indicates a lack of [...]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Over the years, I have wondered out loud why the Washington Nationals marketing has been so bad. They have done a poor job putting their brand out there, I’m not saying the Nats need have co-branded sponsorships for EVERYTHING or that they need “The Toyota Scoreboard brought to you by Honda” like [...]

January 14, 1982 edition of The Post from the Millennium Milestones section on washingtonpost.com

I can only vaguely remember the Air Florida 90 crash into the 14th Street Bridge thirty years ago today (The Post). Mostly, I remember looking when we’d go over the bridge I’d ask where the plane crashed. A derailment of a Metro [...]

Every year, I go places and list them. The primary criteria are 1.) Having a sit-down meal 2.) spending the night in that location.
Alexandria, Va.
Arlington, Va.
Burke, Va.
Fairfax, Va.
Falls Church, Va.
Franconia, Va.
McLean, Va.
Reston, Va.
Vienna, Va.
Annapolis, Md.
Baltimore, Md.
Columbia, Md.
Crownsville, Md.
Ellicot City, Md.
Poolesville, Md.
Avalon, N.J.
Ocean City, N.J.
Stone Harbor, N.J.
Wildwood Crest, N.J.
Woodstown, N.J.
Belleville, Pa.
Burnham, Pa.
Harrisburg, Pa.
Hershey, Pa.
Hummelstown, Pa.
Lewistown, Pa.
Mercersburg, [...]

Every once in a while, I have recalled there being a ski resort somewhere off of Interstate 66 about 20 years ago. I never went there, but was curious if my memory was accurate. Recently, I was able to get the right search terms together and came up with this from DCSki.com: Mid-Atlantic Lost Ski [...]

ARLINGTON, Va. — A lane from the Fairfax Drive ramp at EXIT 67 is being extended along Interstate 66 westbound all the way to EXIT 69, Sycamore Street. This “spot improvement” (Virginia Department of Transportation) is less ambitious than I had hoped for and I am curious if it will provide much relief after it [...]