Drivers Sit in Jammed Traffic at Quantico

Quantico Marine Corps Base stalls at 2 gates 

 

Drivers getting off Interstate 95 heading for the back gate of Quantico slowed early on Wednesday.

A line of cars formed on the shoulder of the northbound side of the highway before exit 148 at the Stafford / Prince William County line. Below the highway, a sea of cars sat on Russell Road with drivers all trying to make their way on to Quantico Marine Corps Base about 7:30 a.m.

Further north at exit 150 at Dumfries / Triangle, another line of cars headed for the main gate of the Marine Corps base formed on the shoulder of the highway. Surrounding roads leading to the main gate Joplin Road and Route 1 were also jammed due to the congestion.

So, what was happening to cause such big delays at both main entry points?

“There was nothing going on. Absolutely nothing,” said Maj. Andrew J. Bormann, a Quantico Marine Corps Base spokesman. “Some days it’s like that, some days it’s not.”

The congestion cleared up after drivers passed the entry gates to the base, added Bormann. Military police guard the gates and check drivers’ IDs and permits affixed to car windshields that permit military personnel and civilian employees access to Quantico.

There was no heightened security at Quantico on Wednesday, and military police were not randomly stopping drivers for security purposes, according to information provided by Bormann.

In 2013, the a federal traffic study was conducted at Quantico’s main gate and along Route 1 ad at Russell Road at Quantico’s back gate, and at nearby Boswells Corner in Stafford County. It found that the traffic operates at “acceptable” levels except in the area of Joplin Road.

If nothing is done to improve overall traffic flow in the area, all of the intersections will be overcapacity by 2040, the study states. Work is underway to widen Route 1 at Boswells Corner, and work to widen Route 1 in Triangle from four to six lanes was recently completed.