Welcome to the Jamieson Canyon half-mile speedway

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Monday, December 29, 2008

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By DAN ROSS

Talking Points

November 5th, 2009

Who wants to be a political blogger for us?

October 8th, 2009

Is your account here about to be deleted?

August 28th, 2009

Ready to use your real name yet?

August 25th, 2009

Who do you want to replace Wiggins as state senator?

August 20th, 2009

Should marijuana be legalized?

Have any of you taken on the challenge of getting out on the newest half-mile racing straight-away in Solano County?

What, you don’t know about the Jamieson Canyon races?

Here, let me fill you in.

About a week or so ago, the new “truck” lane opened on Jamieson Canyon Road, aka Highway 12, for vehicles coming off of I-80 in Solano County heading towards Napa.

The word truck is in quotes because, in my eight days of using Jamieson Canyon since the lane opened, I’ve come across more trucks in the passing lane than in the truck lane.

Mostly what I come across, though, are other cars and SUVs driving 10-25 mph faster than they did before the lane opened.

Is this because there’s less traffic?

Nope, it is because people are now racing one another to the top of the hill where the half-mile truck lane ends, seeing who can get there first, who can cut off others first, who can get their version of the checkered flag.

I’ve experienced this before, along a stretch of roadway in Washington state where a truck lane opened on a highway that previously has no such passing zone for about 15 miles.

Traffic normally moved at 55-60 mph along that stretch of highway. Once the truck lane opened, traffic accelerated to 65-75 mph for that quarter-mile run up that hill.

Friday on Jamieson Canyon I set my cruise control at 68 and moved in to the truck lane as soon as I reached it to see what would happen with the other drivers near me. Guess what happened.

I counted 11 cars zoom past me in a desperate race by each of them to reach the top before my crawling-along-at-68 car got there.

The posted speed limit, by the way, is 55.

Once the truck lane opened, I guess Caltrans included some sort of roadway-sensor that grabbed each car’s radio and secretly began playing Sammy Hagar’s “I Can’t Drive 55,” as incentive to race.

My radio doesn’t work. No checkered flag for me.

Dan Ross is NapaValleyRegister.com’s Online Editor. He writes on local, state and national issues when he’s not trying to avoid speeding drivers on Highway 12. He can be reached at dross@napanews.com or 256.2264.

Correction: An earlier version of this column stated the truck lane was in SolanoCounty, an error caused by a less-than-stellar self-editing process...

17 comment(s)

Paddy wrote on Dec 18, 2008 11:49 AM:

" Dan they should put the toll booths right there at the end of the half-mile. That way we can fund a wider toll road. "

Dwayne wrote on Dec 18, 2008 12:41 PM:

" Gee, Dan, you just confessed to violating the law... Watch your mailbox for a notice to appear... ;-) "

NVR-Dan Ross wrote on Dec 18, 2008 12:54 PM:

" Dwayne:
Amazing the steps I will take in the name of a social experiment aka online column... "

napadad wrote on Dec 18, 2008 3:05 PM:

" I was just wondering, while driving that today, will this alleviate traffic congestion or will it increase the severity if the accidents there due to increaseed speed "

kevin wrote on Dec 18, 2008 10:44 PM:

" I THOUGHT that was you in the slow lane, Dan. But I went by so fast I couldn't be sure... "

Ruff Limblog wrote on Dec 18, 2008 11:02 PM:

" Well, the safety nuts made playground equipment safer, so now the idiots and morons live long enough to get a driver's license.

;o)

However, I am sure there will be more CHP around now.

Things happen when something shows up in the newspaper.

~Ruff "

GregN. wrote on Dec 19, 2008 7:49 AM:

" Nice read. I couldn't agree more.

Let's hope Solano Law Enforcement sees this blog, and steps up the patroling in that area. "

manxkat wrote on Dec 19, 2008 12:05 PM:

" This letter should be in the Vallejo or Fairfield newspaper because that stretch of Jameson Canyon is in Solano county.
I've never understood why people complain so much about Jameson Canyon when they can drive a total of 7 miles farther on a safer road and having less stress by taking American Canyon Road which never has a traffic jam. "

jimtub wrote on Dec 20, 2008 8:09 AM:

" Dan,

That was you? I'll be sure to wave next time. Kidding. Given the similar races to the bottlenecks near Chardonnay and the hill on East 12/121 just east of the Napa Rd intersection, are you really surprised at this?

On a related (humerous) note, recently we were stuck in 3 PM East Jameson traffic just after the bottleneck when some idiot forced her way from the shoulder in front of the car ahead of us. The driver ahead (clearly a 12 commute vet) pulled out a bullhorn and gave her a VERY loud earful. Most impressive! "

Rocketman wrote on Dec 20, 2008 8:11 AM:

" Dan, It is really the same problem everywhere in the Bay Area. People around here will do ANYTHING to get one car ahead. It is so different in the rural areas. Peolple appreciate things more and seem to take it a lot slower. "

RegisterMan wrote on Dec 20, 2008 8:16 AM:

" What a whiner. Several columns ago you complained you couldn’t get to Napa by bus. Now you get to Napa too fast. First the new truck lane is in Solano County. Next the traffic was going 10-25 mph faster but at least 50 mph faster than before the truck lane was built. But just wait until school is back in and the holiday traffic goes back to work and you will be back to 25 mph coming to Napa. Admitting speeding 13 mph over the speed limit is like admitting tagging buildings in Napa on line, isn’t it? For me I appreciate the new truck lane. "

MarshaMarsha wrote on Dec 20, 2008 10:20 AM:

" This is what I like to call the "Freeway Phenomena". It's some part of human nature and I've never been able to figure it out.

Another location that this happens (when the motorcycle cops aren't parked on the sidewalk with radar guns) is the new Maxwell Bridge. The speed limit is 35, but since it LOOKS like a two-lane freeway when driving over it people tend to zoom up to speeds as high as 60, then brake like a madman for the stoplight. All to pass a couple cars.

The reverse phenomena happens on upper southbound 29: you follow some yahoo doing 40 mph at the front of a string of twenty cars in the one lane from St. Helena to North Yountville. As soon as this car reaches the double lane split at Yountville, they punch it and zip up to 75. I don't get it. There is no sign that says "EXTRA LANE: NOW DRIVE VERYVERY FAST". "

NVR-Dan Ross wrote on Dec 20, 2008 10:45 AM:

" RegisterMan:
Thanks for keeping track of what this whiner writes about.
Yes, I know the truck lane is in Solano County, I drive that road on a constant basis.
The lane is a passing lane for slower cars to be on the right, where they belong. The point is now that a passing lane exists, drivers accelerate to 75, 80, 85 mph and more for that half-mile raceway, to be able to be 30 or 40 feet further ahead. Relax, be patient, that amount of racing means arriving in Napa up to a whole one minute faster ...brilliant, eh?
Being behind slow-moving trucks during morning rush hour is why the lane came into effect, getting cars off of I-80 and onto 12 more rapidly, not to race to the top for that one minute savings... "

kevin wrote on Dec 20, 2008 12:41 PM:

" The whole point of the truck lane is so the big rigs don't have to gear down to make the first hill. If the cars will stay out of their lane, they can't gear up, speed up and take the hill at the speed limit and not have to drive 20 mph all the rest of the way to Napa like they did before... "

UncleStuy wrote on Dec 23, 2008 2:20 PM:

" I recently came back from two weeks in the Spokane area. Due to poor flying weather, we had to drive from Boise ID to Spokane. Talk about alot of nothing. As we got settled in on our trip we noticed, the driver's were staying on the right side doing the speed limit or passing 10 mph faster than the right hand lane. There was no "Screaming Demons" doing the weaving in and out of traffic. Everyone pretty much behaved. We returned to Sacramento, we got on the I-5 raceway. We knew we were home. Here came the "Screaming Demons" weaving in and out of traffic, doing 85-100 mph. Makes me wonder if this is a behavior that only California has ? "

Dwayne wrote on Jan 2, 2009 4:02 PM:

" Uphill slow lanes are like that all over the country... There's always someone who tries to beat you to the top, and will cut you off if they can... It's just a fact of human nature... "

napan007 wrote on Jan 5, 2009 3:24 PM:

" Slow traffic keep right - how hard is that? I love the new passing lane. I'm both the passer and the passee when I drive because I pay attention to everyone's various speeds and adjust my car position accordingly. If someone tries to "race" me to the top I gladly concede the top spot as the whole point is to not get stuck behind slow people, not to muscle my way in front of other fast folks! "

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