His whole life, needy Doswell resident Mark Zembower wanted to be on the radio, and when he was traveling to Norfolk, Virginia on I-64 to find the one dentist that accepted his insurance he got an idea. Once inside the Hampton-Roads tunnel – a tunnel already notorious for frequent traffic jams – Zembower simply drifted to a stop, turned on his blinkers and tuned his radio to 610 AM, the tunnel traffic station.
(pictured: traffic jam caused by Zembower)
“I knew if I sat there long enough I would get some attention from that computer-generated voice,” said Zembower as he sat in the eerie orange light of the approximately ½-mile tunnel that connects the Hampton peninsula with the Tidewater region of Virginia. “I’ve always wanted to be mentioned on the radio.”
Sure enough, within 5 minutes a massive traffic tie-up occurred, with angry cars trying to get around the stopped Zembower in the no-passing lane of the eastbound tunnel. Cars skidded and honked furiously, but Zembower held his ground. Finally after about 10 minutes he heard the radio traffic report he was looking for: “The following driving conditions may impact your travel,” said the spooky male voice on 610 AM, license JG 6105, “Eastbound lanes of I-64 in the Hampton-Roads bridge-tunnel are backed up to Mallory Street due to a disabled vehicle in the eastbound tunnel . . .”
And with that, Zembower smiled, started his car and drove on to his turban-wearing dentist in the disinfectant-smelling industrial office building in the worst part of Norfolk.
