511 Virginia Gives Helpful Information
by By Ron Doyle
Excerpted from dnronline.com February 8, 2006
This week I would like to share a Web site that I find particularly useful for the people in Virginia. It is "511 Virginia Traffic and Travel Services" and is located at www.511virginia.org. (Make sure you use the .org.) I recommend you try it out. Especially check there before leaving on a trip around the state.
The site has nine tabs at the top that allow easy navigation. The first tab is "Highway Report." Here you will find listed all of the major roads with traffic tie-ups or bad weather conditions throughout the state. You may choose to sort the reports several different ways and also choose to look at an individual route or all of them. You will see a map of the state showing you exactly where the problems exist. Click and drag a rectangle around the problem area and you will then "zoom" in for a closer look.
Since I don’t have room here to do so, I won’t give details of all of the tabs; however, here are several of my favorites.
The "Weather" tab allows you to check weather around the state (actually anywhere you know the zip code). Once you check the weather for your destination, go on over to the "Cameras" tab and check what the weather in that area actually looks like. Before you ask, no, they don’t have cameras on the roads everywhere in the state; however, they have been increasing since I started using the site several months ago I like to look at the one for Afton Mountain occasionally but it is hidden on the site pretty well. Let me know if you can find it.
Keep in mind while you are browsing the site on the Internet that the site name has some importance, too. If you are traveling in Virginia and need information regarding the traffic jams that may currently be taking place, dial 511 on your cell phone and be connected to the network. You can "talk" through the ever-present menu choices and find out where the major slowdowns may be and then figure out a way to avoid them.
VDOT did a pretty good job on this one; however, it has left out a lot of the Valley on the site. I suggest contacting them, using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of the site and letting them know that the Valley has a lot to offer that you don’t find on the site.
Contact Ron Doyle at Ron@DoubleClicks.info |
