Commuting time from West Springfield to Rockville (and back) (Fairfax: home, construction)

[Chellereigh]

I may be commuting from West Springfield to Rockville starting in a couple of weeks. I'll be taking Braddock Rd - to 495 - to 270 - to Shady Grove Rd. Does anyone have any suggestions on the better vs. the worse times to commute this route? I'm aiming for 7:00am arrival in Rockville and 4:30 departure from Rockville.

[bornindc]

Getting there by 7:00am will not be terrible, dense traffic most of the way but it should be moving. Traffic can be slow getting from Braddock on to the Beltway at that time. Your return trip at 4:30pm will be rough though, not sure of the exact time it will take but it will be stop and go.

[Chellereigh]

Would leaving Rockville at 4:00pm make much of a difference vs. leaving at 4:30pm?

[ReadytoRetire]

Originally Posted by Chellereigh

Would leaving Rockville at 4:00pm make much of a difference vs. leaving at 4:30pm?

Not a Lot....From about 3:30 to 6:30 traffic is pretty heavy..

[michgc]

Agreed. Morning isn't too bad. Afternoon can be a nightmare. In general, the earlier you leave the better unless you are going to leave at 7:00 PM. But still 4:00 versus 4:30 won't make much of a difference. You will have some days where it's just fine. And days where it is horrible and you will want to pull your hair out or turn your car into a boat and sail it across the river. Books on tape are good ways to pass the time. Or perhaps learn another language while in the car. I used to commute from Vienna to Rockville (just before the Shady Grove exit). It took 35-45 minutes in the morning. Afternoon was generally 55 minutes. Real bad days it was 1 hour 15 minutes. For the record, my commute was 18 miles. This was a few years ago, so things may have changed, but I doubt for the better.

[JakilaTheHun]

Originally Posted by Chellereigh

I may be commuting from West Springfield to Rockville starting in a couple of weeks. I'll be taking Braddock Rd - to 495 - to 270 - to Shady Grove Rd. Does anyone have any suggestions on the better vs. the worse times to commute this route? I'm aiming for 7:00am arrival in Rockville and 4:30 departure from Rockville.

I do Fairfax/Fair Oaks to Rockville every day, so I take I-66 to I-495 to I-270.

I agree with the other commenters. Morning shouldn't be too bad. If I leave at about 6:15 AM, I normally arrive at work by around 7:00 AM and sometimes a few minutes earlier. Plus, most of my time comes from the traffic on I-66 in the morning; I-495 normally has much lighter traffic that early.

Afternoon fluctuates more, but it can be a "nightmare" on certain days. From Rockville to I-66 took me about 45 minutes yesterday and I left at 3:30 PM. It was a bit worse than normal, though. That stretch normally fluctuates between about 20 - 50 minutes.

In some ways, you are luckier than me because at least you can avoid I-66, but the Beltway can get pretty bad on certain afternoons. I wish WMATA would built a Beltway line so I could just avoid the whole mess and ride a train to work.

[Chellereigh]

Thanks for all the replies so far. The biggest thing for me is the return trip. I need to be in West. Springfield by 6:00pm at the latest every evening. I'm hoping that leaving Rockville at 4:30 pm will not give me more than a 90 minute evening commute.

[NOVAmtneer82]

That's definitely not one of the better commutes in the region. The stretch of pavement from I-270-495-66 is one of the most congested in the region. Mornings should be fine because you are leaving early enough but the evenings are awful heading back into Virginia from Maryland. They are expanding the Beltway from near the Legion Bridge to Springfield and that has only added to the delays in that area..and will continue to do so for the next 2-3 years. Traffic was still awful even before construction started. For the most part I can't imagine it taking 90 minutes at 4:30 but it will probably happen more times than you would like.

[bornindc]

I think that almost every night you will be able to get home by 6pm if you leave at 4:30pm but there are no guarantees when it comes to that commute. Hopefully it'll be closer to an hour every day. Good luck...