Hagerstown to Frederick (Middletown, Hancock: transporting, home, find a job)

[kamikazejoshua]

I am wondering how the commute is from Hagerstown to Frederick. I have seen the traffic on I-270 from Frederick to DC (shudders) and am hoping it is nothing like that. I recently accepted a teaching job in frederick county and if my wife (also a teacher) cannot find a job, we might have to look for housing elsewhere. I have noticed that Hagerstown is better price-wise. We are from out of state and last time we were down interviewing, we didn't venture out past Frederick.

Thanks

[Thruway]

I'd imagine you would have a hassle free commute.
Frederick is still a rural county and city with some developement, and Washington is even further out, past the applachias way up in mountain land.
You're in the frontier and should be happy, you have unspoiled scenic country!
Commute should be cake.

[Georgia]

I-70 / I-81 Exit 26 / 4 to the Rt 15 Business District Frederick:
26 miles.
No issue.
Only rough time is if you have snow in the winter and South Mountain from the 35 - 42 mile marker on 70 becomes ice covered.

[westsideboy]

One more thing to consider is where in Frederick County you are teaching. If you are just going Hagerstown city limit to Frederick city limit, you should be OK. If you need to go east of Frederick on I-70 or I-270 (gasp!) you will hit significant traffic and will slow down your communte immensely. If you know where you will be teaching that will help in answering your question.

[kamikazejoshua]

Thanks for all the responses. I have seen the traffic east of Frederick and I wold rather not go through that. The school is right in Frederick.

[DANA KING]

Im from Frederick Maryland and feel that the traffic is not as stressing from Hagerstown to Frederick maybe sometimes you will face some traffic delays but not nearly as much as fred to DC commute. Hagerstown is cheper so you get what you pay for, also traffic wise you may want to stick closer to the work place to avoid traffic all together. Good luck...

dking70keepingitreal

[Thruway]

Hagerstown is a beatiful rural town, as is Frederick and most of Frederick county aside from Urbana.

[Billiam]

Itll be no problem. About half of the teachers at my school commute from hagerstown every day, no problem

[rioasad]

My wife and I just accepted jobs in Wash Cty as teachers. I will be at N. Hagertown HS one semester, the second one I will be driving to Hancock. Can anyone tell me about the commute to Hancock (from Hagerstown)?

[rekuci]

I used to live midway between Frederick and Hagerstown from '93-97. It now has about three times the population it used to (people are now regularly making the insane commute from Hagerstown to DC) and there is now occasional traffic on I-70, but absolutely nothing like the I-270 trip from Frederick to DC of course. The only times you will encounter major trouble is holiday weekends in summer, when people partake in an exodus to mountain destinations, and the rather frequent tractor trailer accidents that can close I-70. As an alternate, US Rt 40 runs parallel to I-70 and has no traffic lights between west Frederick and MD 66. In winter during and after storms, crossing Braddock Mountain (the one closer to Frederick on east side of Middletown Valley) can be hairy, but usually it's fine if you know how to drive on snow. South Mountain divides Middletown Valley and the wide Shenandoah Valley where Hagerstown is located, and this can be even hairier in winter, since the pass is much higher and at a higher grade than Braddock Mountain. In winter, overturned tractor trailers are pretty frequent on the ice...my parents were evacuated from their home once when a military truck transporting chemical weapons overturned, and I recall numerous instances where there were major gas spills.

Another thing to consider is that Frederick itself has expanded wildly the last several years, and traffic within Frederick itself is now reputedly a problem. I used to run into minor traffic there even in 1997. The MD 85/355 area is probably particularly problematic.