traffic on Woodrow Wilson bridge (Alexandria, Springfield: how much, university, living in)

[dbenderson]

Hi,

My wife and I are moving to the DC area -- I will be working in Annapolis, she'll be in Georgetown. We're thinking of moving to Old Town, Alexandria. Can anyone tell me how traffic is taking the woodrow wilson bridge east in the am, west in the pm (i.e. commuting from alexandria to annapolis)?

thanks!
dave benderson

[The Dissenter]

very bad. all i can say. if you take rt. 1 south (s henry st) to the capital beltway that's the last exit b4 the bridge going east. west is just as bad coming back.

[dbenderson]

thanks for the input. it's not sounding too good for old town right now. any idea if taking the GW parkway up to dc to 395 -> 295 -> 50 is any better?

[The Dissenter]

that won't be much better. you may as well take the beltway. 395 is just as crowded but at least when you get over the bridge on 495 that's most of your delays out the way right there.

[jmjohnson]

Have you consider possibly living in Maryland? I would not wish that commute on anyone. Annapolis during rush hour..... what a nighmare.

[saganista]

Yeah, Old Town is nice and all, but it's over 40 miles and close to an hour from there to Annapolis under good conditions. In rush hour twice a day? Ouch! I'd look in MD outside the Beltway near to Rte 50. From Bowie for instance, the trip to Annapolis would be cut in half (at least). The trip to Georgetown could be a bit of a challenge from out there. Would depend on where in Georegtown and whether she's affiliated with the University and could access the free shuttles...

[Sandoz76]

I agree, I think Bowie sounds like a better bet.

[braymand]

dbenderson,

These guys don't know what they're talking about. I travel from the Springfield (VA) area across the Wilson Bridge every day - have done it for 7 years. If they were talking Westbound (MD to VA) in AM and Eastbound (VA to MD) in the afternoon, I would agree - that's a nightmare commute. But the other way, in comparison, is usually a breeze. From Lorton, VA (5 miles South of Springfield) to the vicinity of Bolling AFB takes 30-40 minutes. Once in awhile (certainly no more than 10% of the time on average), it's an hour or more. For a 19-mile commute in the DC area, that's not bad! If I lived on the MD side & worked in VA, the time would be more than double!
One other caveat: On a few occasions, I have driven another 5 miles or so East on the beltway & it was smooth sailling, but beyond that - especially approaching Annapolis - I have no experience to judge that. But on the Wilson - East in AM, West in PM is generally not a problem. Other way is bad.

[topodidio99]

Hi, am in a similar situation. I will work in Pasadena, MD and my husband study at Georgetown university and we would like to live in Alexandria. How did your situation work out and how is the commute to Annapolis? Do you know how much longer the drive is to Pasadena? Thanks!

[EricD]

At least once the newest bridge is built, there will be the ability to have 8 lanes going in each direction on the bridge. (Though they'll probably only use 6 each way)