How is King Street commute to work? (living, commuting to)

[flowergirl7]

How is the commute on King St during the week days going in/out of Old Town?

Google maps show the traffic flow for the beltway but not King St so thought somebody on this forum would know. Thanks!

[pcity]

It can get pretty backed up at the Russell Rd./King St. light during rush hours. Duke St. is bad too though. There's no great way to get into/out of Old Town from the northwest during rush hour.

[flowergirl7]

Originally Posted by pcity

It can get pretty backed up at the Russell Rd./King St. light during rush hours. Duke St. is bad too though. There's no great way to get into/out of Old Town from the northwest during rush hour.

Is the local commute preferable to taking the beltway or Rt 1?
Or is it also possible to find alternate local routes (eg taking W Glebe or another road) that would be better for bypassing backed up areas like King & Russell?

[CaliTerp07]

It's a narrow street (2 lanes for a good portion, 4 lanes max) with tons of stop lights and pedestrians. (And crazy tourists who don't know how to cross streets!) You will not fly down it at any time of day, but there are alternatives if you take side streets.

The portion of King Street where it intersects Quaker (near TC Williams) is a mess of an intersection with some really crazy traffic patterns that I don't like, so I always took Seminary instead of King to avoid it (and then took Quaker to Duke to Old town, or stayed on Seminary until it hits King). The intersection of King where it splits to Duke by the Masonic Temple can back up too, but not as bad as a lot of places in the area.

[CaliTerp07]

Originally Posted by flowergirl7

Is the local commute preferable to taking the beltway or Rt 1?
Or is it also possible to find alternate local routes (eg taking W Glebe or another road) that would be better for bypassing backed up areas like King & Russell?

Route 1 is actually a great road to take. It's wider, splits into two one way streets (so turn lanes don't back everyone up as much), and the best part is the lights are timed, so if you make 1 you will make the next 5!

[flowergirl7]

Originally Posted by CaliTerp07

Route 1 is actually a great road to take. It's wider, splits into two one way streets (so turn lanes don't back everyone up as much), and the best part is the lights are timed, so if you make 1 you will make the next 5!

Thanks for the heads up!

I'm trying to decide which is better..living & commuting to Old Town from NW of the area or living & commuting from Eisenhower/Carlyle area. Hmmm... time is money ;-)

[weezycom]

You don't take King Street. You take Duke Street to S. Peyton and turn left to cut up one block to go eastbound on Prince Street, which is one-way & 2 lanes wide going toward the river (goes back to 2-way traffic at St. Asaph Street).

Leaving Old Town, if you're north of King, you head westbound on Cameron which is a one-way street, then cut southbound on Peyton down to Duke to leave town in the evenings.

If you're in Crystal City area, you head south on Route 1 which will turn into one-way traffic and be called Patrick (or Henry?) Street, and then you can cut left onto Queen (one way) toward the river, or right onto Cameron westbound while north of King. If you need south of King, then it would be left on Prince or right on Duke for fastest travel.

[Caldonia]

Taking Prince and Cameron Streets would work better getting through Old Town but the other portion of King Street near the metro coming down the Masonic Temple hill can be a headache. Quaker Road near TC Williams and Braddock can also be a headache as well.