I-270 Traffic Jam Due To Political Campaign
Aug 4, 2010 16:54 - 6 Comments
If you were caught in the ten mile traffic jam inbound on I-270 this morning, you had many fellow sufferers. The cause was not an accident or stalled vehicle. Instead, reports WTOP, it was political campaign signs being waved on an overpass. People slowed down to read, and this became a cascading delay that resulted in a frustrating snarl:
People waved campaign signs on a highway overpass during rush hour traffic in support of a local candidate. They remained out of the road, but drivers stopped to look.
WTOP’s traffic reporter Lisa Baden called the police per request of listeners stuck in traffic.
“[Police] can’t legally make them leave because they’re not blocking the road or impeding the traffic,” Baden said of campaigners.
While political candidates and their supporters have a constitutional right to express their views, one would hope that common sense would prevail. I have rarely seen it help a politician’s campaign to have sign-wavers out during rush hour. It often backfires, as it did this morning (Wednesday).
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So, who’s campaign was doing this?
Until I have confirmation from more than one source, I would rather not say. I am trying to get it confirmed.
I was driving south on I-270 at about 8:15 this morning (as I do every morning) and saw, what I believe were, three people, waiving a “Brian Murphy for governor” sign on one of the overpasses. The traffic did indeed slow down and then immediately picked-up beyond that overpass.
i don’t think tuesday was the first day, either–there was a similar traffic jam on 270 south monday morning at 9:30 also.
Whether the campaigners were “waiving” or waving signs, they shouldn’t be allowed to do so. I hope this message was forwarded to the police departments of Rockville and/or Montgomery County.
I’ve verified what Councilmember Gajewski has posted above, that it was in fact the Brian Murphy campaign. (He is running against Bob Ehrlich for the Republican nomination.)