Angry, frustrated drivers crawl past work crews as concrete pillars and tracks start to take form.

The Tysons Metrorail project has caught the attention of many as the bright yellow and blue rails extend over roads, and, of course, the blocks and delays start.

Tysons is a popular spot for teens, and a horrendous spot for any driver trying to make it into the complex. Unfortunately, for busy and harried parents, the fluorescent orange barrels will continue to control one of Tyson’s main roads, Route 123, until late 2013, when the Metrorail is completed on Wiehle Avenue in eastern Reston.

In order to experience this first hand, we left Langley and drove to Tysons to
see how bad the traffic was on the Friday before the four day weekend. We left Langley on Georgetown Pike at 6:05 and took a left on Balls Hill Rd.

When we came to the intersection of Balls Hill and Lewinsville Roads, gridlock. Our light was green but we couldn’t move. By 6:15 we were on 123, heading toward Tysons and the construction.

There are three traffic lights in a quarter mile stretch, but that just wasn’t
enough, so Tysons has added another one. It directs people onto the beltway, which is good, but if you hit them all at red, you might have to catch a later movie.

We hit all the lights at green, so we made it to the parking lot by 6:24 but most of that time was spent in the dreaded left turn lane. On our way home at 7:26, I counted twenty cars in the left lane and that was in light traffic.

The nineteen minute drive might not seem too long, but considering Langley is only 5.31 miles away from Tysons, it should only take someone about nine minutes to arrive.

We did not have much traffic, maybe because of the four day weekend, maybe because people were going green. Whatever the case, after you make the trek, prepare yourself for Christmas decorations.