Gallows Rd. traffic (Annandale, Springfield, Fairfax: daycare, home, construction)

[scottfs]

My wife and I are considering a home around the Braddock Rd. area (Springfield/Annandale) and I we're trying to find out how her commute to Tysons Corner would be. Would it be better than getting on the beltway if she took Gallows Rd. most of the way? Any other tips? We are both pretty busy and don't really have the time to make a run ourselves right now. Right now she's coming from Rockville which takes around 40 min if there isn't some sort of accident or what have you.

[DC Oldtimer]

What time of day? Off rush hour that would hardly be an annoying commute.

Yes I would try alternatives to the beltway during rush hour. There are probably multiple alternatives besides Gallows Rd. Others here are better at coming up with creative ideas on that front than me.

The area off Braddock Rd outside the Beltway is a very nice place to live. Convenient as can be.

[OrangeFish]

Originally Posted by scottfs

My wife and I are considering a home around the Braddock Rd. area (Springfield/Annandale) and I we're trying to find out how her commute to Tysons Corner would be. Would it be better than getting on the beltway if she took Gallows Rd. most of the way?

It depends which part of Tysons she'd be going to. Consider also Prosperity to 50 or 29, then take a left then a right onto Cedar Ln or Nutley St into Vienna to get on 123 to get to the west part of Tysons. I'm in the area that you are looking at and I rarely take the Beltway to Tysons.

[CaseyMac]

This info is a few years old, but I used to have to make the morning ride north on 495 from Braddock to Tysons (Route 7) and I found the stop and go on 495 easier than the lights on Gallows, with school buses, etc.

I felt the Beltway ride was a bit easier sometimes than 66 on some of its most congested points and certainly easier than 95 South from Springfield to Occoquan, if that helps.

But really try and do a trial run so you'll know. Even take off time from work if necessary. This is too big a decision to make without knowing exactly what you will be getting into.

Also, keep in mind in the Braddock Road area, it's much better to be outside the Beltway than inside the Beltway.

[scottfs]

Good information, thanks guys. If it helps, her hours are going to have to be pretty 9-5-ish so she will mostly be driving at peak times. An approximation of where she needs to go would be 123 and International Dr. Just getting from her building to 495 has been half the battle lately because of how Chain Bridge Rd. has been backed up lately.

[Amer21]

I live off of Gallows near Fairfax INOVA hospital and commute to Bethsda, MD every day. In the morning, traffic on the beltway slows because of the merge from 66 onto the beltway. Once you're past that, the traffic is good. Right now because of the construction of the HOT lanes, they are doing work on the bridge over Gallows Rd. I merge onto the beltway at Rt 50 and Gallows Rd. Depending on traffic, I merge here or I take the Fairview Rd. exit off of 50 and get onto the beltway from there. You miss all the traffic merging from Rt 50 and it's usually a bit faster. They are also doing construction on Gallows Rd in between Rt 50 and Lee Hwy so expect delays there. Our daycare used to be located near the Dunn Loring metro and we'd take Gallows Rd all the way to Rt 7. I found it wasn't too bad but it's been awhile since we've done that. I would just try a couple ways. Sometimes the beltway is actually faster than all the lights on Gallows, particularly in bad weather. I think once you clear Lee Hwy and Gallows Rd traffic should be better.