Frederick to Leesburg Commute (Potomac: travel, job, home)

[Tim Rankin]

Hi everyone.

We may be moving back to Frederick before long, and my job would be in Leesburg. I made that commute from Jan '04 to Sep '05, so I already know what the drive is like, and have experienced the backups too.

I was wondering if the traffic is still about the same, or if it's gotten much worse. I would leave Frederick at about 5:15am for Leesburg. Coming home, I could leave Leesburg at either 3pm or 4pm, depending on what kind of shift I work.

I've also heard that there have been increasing accidents & fatalities on that stretch of road, which concerns me somewhat.

Thanks for any info!

[vwfan]

At those times, your commute is a breeze. Probably take you 35 minutes to get to leesburg and home.

Not much traffic on 15 around 5:15am (I travel the opposite direction as i'm coming home from work). 3-4pm is good to come home as well. You'll even miss a lot of the Friday traffic!

[carolina_guy]

So how would it be commuting from Leesburg to Frederick and back to Leesburg?

[trying2moveup]

I'd say more people commute into Virginia than from Virginia into maryland so it shouldn't be that bad. one factor here, though, is that you have to cross the Potomac and there are only a few ways to do that - Point of Rocks bridge (Rt. 15) would be the main way for you - a backup could be White's Ferry but that is an actually ferry (will not run in very bad weather) and is down in Mont. Co whih would require extra driving. next point would probably be up in Shepardstown, WVA to cross the river.

Probably doesn't impact all that much but you need to consider it because there is no way to get around crossing that river.

[Tim Rankin]

Originally Posted by carolina_guy

So how would it be commuting from Leesburg to Frederick and back to Leesburg?

Carolina Guy, the Lees-Fred-Lees commute is not bad traffic-wise, if you're commuting during typical commuting hours. Trying2moveup is correct in that most of the traffic is opposite direction. The only hangup will be if there's an accident, since it's only a two-lane road for much of the drive.

[ECD9973]

I want to bump this thread. Is there anyone that actually DOES this commute (Frederick to Leesburg) during normal busniess hours.

So far I've heard that it's "Bad" with no defention of what that means. Is it 45 mins bad? Is it a hour bad? Is it 2 hours bad? I know it may varry, but on most days how long does it take during Rush hour? And on the 15, what is rush hour? 5 to 7? 5:30 to 6:30pm?

[Tim Rankin]

Originally Posted by ECD9973

I want to bump this thread. Is there anyone that actually DOES this commute (Frederick to Leesburg) during normal busniess hours.

So far I've heard that it's "Bad" with no defention of what that means. Is it 45 mins bad? Is it a hour bad? Is it 2 hours bad? I know it may varry, but on most days how long does it take during Rush hour? And on the 15, what is rush hour? 5 to 7? 5:30 to 6:30pm?

Are you from CA? I've never heard of anyone in Md/VA calling Rt. 15 "the 15."

Anyway to answer your question, ECD: Back when I did the commute in '04 to '05, the only rush hour traffic I'd have to deal with was the afternoon commute from Lees - Fred. I'd say the traffic was heavy between about 3:30 - 6:30pm, with the peak somewhere within that range. What should have been a 40 min. commute was anywhere from 55 - 70 min, depending on the time.

I would be interested if anyone else can update those commute times, as I'm certain traffic must have gotten worse since then.

[ECD9973]

Originally Posted by Tim Rankin

Are you from CA? I've never heard of anyone in Md/VA calling Rt. 15 "the 15."

Anyway to answer your question, ECD: Back when I did the commute in '04 to '05, the only rush hour traffic I'd have to deal with was the afternoon commute from Lees - Fred. I'd say the traffic was heavy between about 3:30 - 6:30pm, with the peak somewhere within that range. What should have been a 40 min. commute was anywhere from 55 - 70 min, depending on the time.

I would be interested if anyone else can update those commute times, as I'm certain traffic must have gotten worse since then.

Yea - CA for 3 years has me saying "The" before each road. I use to make fun of people doing that, and now....

I saw your earlier posts. I keep hearing traffic is bad and has "Gotten worse" but I don't know what that means. I figure it's so bad I could find someone that does it, but I cant.....

[Tim Rankin]

Originally Posted by ECD9973

Yea - CA for 3 years has me saying "The" before each road. I use to make fun of people doing that, and now....

I saw your earlier posts. I keep hearing traffic is bad and has "Gotten worse" but I don't know what that means. I figure it's so bad I could find someone that does it, but I cant.....

Btw, I didn't mention the morning rush hour in my last post, because I was always at work by 7am, before it got bad. But there is morning traffic too.

Maybe someone else will chime in on the current traffic woes...

[EngineerCommuter]

Frederick to Leesburg: Leave home around 7 AM, arrive at office at 7:40 AM
Leesburg to Frederick: Leave office around 5 PM, arrive home at 5:45 PM

Extremely consistent with the obvious exceptions of accidents that close Rt. 15