Alternate route to get south vice I-95/Hwy 1 on Friday (Alexandria: spring break, to live in)

[elacklen]

We're traveling tomorrow afternoon from Huntington area to Raleigh, NC. Traffic is always a nightmare, even with HOV, and I'm sure it being the start of Spring Break won't help.
My husband was convinced by co-workers that a good alternative to I-95S is to take 495 over the bridge and go through Maryland via 301, connecting back to 95 south of Fredericksburg. He thinks the additional 30 minutes this will take will still be faster than sitting on I-95 through Lorton/Quantico/F-burg. That stretch has literally taken us 3-4 hours sometimes.
Any thoughts? What sort of traffic will we hit with this new route?
We'll be leaving between 2-5 pm hopefully.
Thanks!

[Spaten_Drinker]

Leaving that will not matter. You are screwed. When I travel south during the spring/summer, I always take Friday off and leave by 10am.

[ChristineVA]

Many people do this. It is not without its own problems. I think a long time ago it was a good option but it is no longer a "secret" now. You will probably have issues going down 301 until you get past La Plata.

[TextileWolf]

I have made plenty of Friday afternoon trips from NOVA to Raleigh and NC. I used to live in Alexandria and I used the 301 quite a bit. This was primarily 2006-2009...so it has been a few years since I have done it. We live in Manassas now so that route doesn't make any sense for us any more.

I used the 301 quite a bit... especially in the summer. Especially if I left in the 2-5 time period. Unless something has changed...I felt the route added about an hour to the trip. I took it because it got me out of the bumper to bumper, change of scenery, and the time might be longer...but was consistent.

[elacklen]

TextileWolf, did it add an hour versus taking 95 at the same time? Or add an hour versus 95 on a traffic-less day?

[TextileWolf]

Trafficless day. It would take me 4 hours to get to Raleigh from Alexandria in ideal conditions. The 301 route would be 5 (maybe sometimes a little better than 5). I am sure it takes 5 hours on 95 regularly during the summer.

[ChristineVA]

TextileWolf--are you by chance from California? I just have to chuckle over the "the 301" references!

[TextileWolf]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

TextileWolf--are you by chance from California? I just have to chuckle over the "the 301" references!

Haha....not hardly. If you heard me speak you'd realize that pretty quickly. From NC....hence the trips to NC.

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by TextileWolf

Haha....not hardly. If you heard me speak you'd realize that pretty quickly. From NC....hence the trips to NC.

Interesting. The first time I ever heard "the" used before a Rt. Number I was in California. Someone told me to get on "the 10". I was like "WHAT?" Then they used "the" before every highway number designation. I've never heard anyone from around here to that. I don't spend much time in NC so maybe that's common there?

[dkf747]

The one time I tried 301 instead of 95, it was just as bad as 95. I would just stick with 95, but that's just me.