Old Town to Arlington Hall Commute? (Alexandria, Mount Vernon: job, moving to, traffic)

[libraz]

Hello,

I'll be moving to Old Town Alexandria this week and starting a new job in the Arlington Hall area (Arlington Blvd/Glebe Rd). I have no experience with area traffic and am wondering what the best routes might be during rush hour. An acquaintance recommended taking side roads but didn't know which ones. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

[jhicks7739]

I avoid Glebe Road whenever possible but you should at least give it a try to see what you think - take Mount Vernon Ave north and turn left on to W. Glebe and follow that all the way to Arlington Blvd (Route 50). The confusing part if you are looking at a map is that there are 2 Glebe roads. One is West or East Glebe and the other is North or South Glebe (Route 120). The meet up near 395 and both stop at Route 1.

I would probably take the GW Parkway to 395 South to Washington Blvd to Arlington Blvd and take side roads when there is a major traffic jam.

[libraz]

Thanks for your thoughts. Is taking King St not a good idea? Are there lots of traffic lights and congestion?

[pcity]

King St. is out of the way for where you're going. You'd go west and then back east. There are also a lot of lights, and there is some congestion during rush hour.

I like GW Parkway-395 South-Wash. Blvd.-50, like jhicks said. I'm not a fan of the Glebe Rd. route, just because I always seem to get stuck in traffic on that road.

If you find the GW Parkway to be too congested, you could try one of the routes through Del Ray (Russell Rd., Commonwealth Ave., or Mt. Vernon Ave.) to Arlington Ridge Rd. to where it links up with Wash. Blvd. and take that to 50. I think that would be faster than taking Glebe.