Arlington, Virginia Speed Traps

About after the bridge coming into Arlington VA on the next block past Lee Highway starts another block lesser congestion where there is a quasi tunnel with concrete and chain link fence. No pedestrians crossings, not well traveled. The lower portion that goes through the tunnel is manned by handheld LIDAR devices.

Arlington police frequently stake out this location as the short amount of distance given to drivers to decelerate from 35mph to 25mph almost guarantees a steady stream of revenue. They will often park their car on the west side of the road, out of sight around a curve and then stand in the large median between the north and south-bound lanes of N Glebe Rd (38°55’32.7″N 77°07’29.1″W) just before the road goes downhill to Chain Bridge. This gives them a clear line of sight up Glebe and good concealment in front of the trees in the median. Their mandatory safety vest gives them away though and if you have good eyesight, you can spot them from a distance. If you see them before passing N River St then you could probably turn left onto N River to avoid them (I do not advocate any illegal activity, but they are unlikely to abandon their post, and you would be well on your way by the time they could get to their car, turn around, and come looking for you in the maze of residential streets that N River leads into). After N River, you are trapped. You can easily bypass the entire area using a combination of Old Dominion and Kirby Road on the west side of N Glebe or 26th/31st Streets and Military Road to the east of N Glebe.

On 5/13/16 in the morning rush hour, there is an active speed trap. Officers are parked beyond a construction truck and are using a hand-held radar. This is a popular stretch because the Arlington Police like to target out-of-county speeders. When 395 backsup, folks exit at Glebe and then take Army Navy Drive into the Pentagon City area.

As the car in front of me and I stopped, then turned right onto Eads St. from 18th a cop pulled us both over. He came right towards me and almost hit me. He was waiting like a tiger ready to spring. It was dark (5:30 at night) and raining and when I asked what I had done he said I turned right on red in a “no right on red from 7am-7pm” zone, a sign I did not see at all. He clearly sits and catches people here–especially in the dark and rain.

Southbound Carlin Springs, coming down the hill from 2nd St. N., passing Kensington, weekly there is a cop with a radar gun leaning against a tree at the entrance to Bluemont Trail parking lot, just before ramp to westbound 50. Dirty pool catching people going down a long, steep hill when the speed limit is 30.