TYSONS CORNER, Va. - Getting stuck in holiday traffic can ruin a trip to the mall but now there's a way to check the roads before you head home.

Once the shopping is done, the focus for anyone leaving Tysons Corner Center is getting out without getting stuck in the often awful traffic, especially for Erica Rose-Manz with a baby in tow.

Rose-Manz, who's from Vienna, said, "Especially after all the stressful shopping you want an easy commute home."

Consider this an early present from VDOT: newly installed, five 50-inch plasma screens placed throughout Tysons Corner Center. They offer traffic conditions, video from traffic cameras around the mall, construction-related lane closure updates, bus routes and schedules, along with weather conditions and a news ticker.

Ft. Belvoir Resident Tricia McDonald said, "I think it would help. When we were leaving I was going to get on WTOP and listen to the traffic reporter before I left to figure which way to go home."

"I think it would help me figure out an alternate route, if there was a lot of congestion, especially today with the rain," said Potomac Falls resident Mia McNaughton. "Obviously, traffic patterns can be brutal at 5 o'clock in this area."

Rose-Manz had this to say about the new screens: "I love it. I think it's convenient, fantastic for the mall for people leaving. Lets you know what you expect when you leave the mall."

The software and installation of the screens cost about $400,000 and they'll cost $100,000 a year to operate. They are part of Virginia Megaprojects' $21 million transportation management plan to help drivers during the Beltway HOT Lane construction.

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