Lake Ridge to McLean: Commute from hell?? (Burke, Woodbridge: chapel, promotional)

[bamurray]

I live in Lake Ridge, and I have a job opportunity in McLean. Will this be 26 miles of a traffic nightmare? Do you think it will be better once the I-95 Express Lanes are complete? Is public transit available? I currently work in DC. I take the VRE from Woodbridge into Union Station, and my work is a very short walk from the station. My commute is typically 1 hr and 15 min, but I have the comfort of the train and I do not have to deal with traffic headaches. Is this job worth it? It will be a promotional opportunity...

[Bigfoot424]

That's going to be tough no matter what route you drive. I am not sure on the public transit route. You will have to do either 66 or 95/495 at some point. If you take 66 after taking the back roads at least you can get off on Nutley and come in the back roads avoiding 495 altogether.

[djplourd]

It depends on where in McLean the job is. If you plan to drive then the I-95 Express lanes should definitely help (but it won't be cheap - I take the 495 express Lanes often to Rt 7 and the toll varies from around $2 to $6 one way).

You might be able to take the silver line metro when it opens (which should be before the 95 express lanes). That way you could still take the VRE but you'd need to get off at L'Enfant Plaza to catch the silver line.

You could also take the Tysons Express bus from Woodbridge. That will get you close and then you might have to take a local bus to get closer to work.

Also Metrobus 3A runs from the Ballston Metro to McLean

[chuckhoffmann]

I'm thinking the toughest part of this commute will be just getting out of Prince William County into Fairfax. I-95 northbound is miserable during morning rush hour, and I don't know if taking the Gordon Boulevard Bridge would be much better.

If you go public transit it will most likely be VRE to Metro to a bus and probably add a half hour to your commute each way, if not much more. To calculate whether or not the promotion is worth it, figure that you're probably going to add at least 250 hours a year of commute time and decide if the bump in pay and increased career advancement opportunities are sufficient to cover this extra "lost" time.

[Forehead]

I'm wondering if this is some alternate version of me. I grew up in McLean, currently live in Lake Ridge, and work near Union Station. Also, for what it's worth, I did three years of night school for an MBA while living in Lake Ridge, and while doing so, I commuted to West Falls Church metro twice a week.

The answer is, it really depends on you and what you can tolerate. As someone else said, the Omniride bus has a Tysons Corner route which will get you into the general area, though you weren't clear if your job was in Tysons or the actual town of McLean. I'm guessing the former, but just in case, that bus might not get you right where you want to be if you're actually in the town. The pay lanes may make your life easier as well. Or you can do what I did, which is leave earlier and take a more scenic and lower-stress route up. It takes longer, but I didn't get hung up in too much traffic and the neighborhoods are really nice along the way. Here's the route I used, which you can follow in Google Maps or something.

- From Old Bridge Road, left on 123/Gordon Blvd

- Right on Lee Chapel Road

- Right on Burke Lake Road...these two will get you through the South County and Burke areas. Lee Chapel is usually pretty clear. The big thing about Burke Lake is you want to leave early or late enough to avoid the buses going into Lake Braddock High School. That snarls traffic up for a period of time. Avoid that and Burke Lake is almost no issue.

- Cross over Braddock Road (don't turn, this road can be a nightmare) onto Woodland Way. This was always a very peaceful part of the trip, this is a very nice, quiet neighborhood to cut through.

At this point, I went through the neighborhood, picked up Woodburn Road and went around Merrifield and over to West Falls Church. To get to Tysons, you can try to main roads but the Merrifield area can be pretty backed up. Prosperity Avenue to Cedar Lane might be an option to get to Tyson's but I can't vouch for what those roads are like in the morning. Point is, you have plenty of options, there are far worse commutes out there.

[compuguy]

Originally Posted by Forehead

I'm wondering if this is some alternate version of me. I grew up in McLean, currently live in Lake Ridge, and work near Union Station. Also, for what it's worth, I did three years of night school for an MBA while living in Lake Ridge, and while doing so, I commuted to West Falls Church metro twice a week.

The answer is, it really depends on you and what you can tolerate. As someone else said, the Omniride bus has a Tysons Corner route which will get you into the general area, though you weren't clear if your job was in Tysons or the actual town of McLean. I'm guessing the former, but just in case, that bus might not get you right where you want to be if you're actually in the town. The pay lanes may make your life easier as well. Or you can do what I did, which is leave earlier and take a more scenic and lower-stress route up. It takes longer, but I didn't get hung up in too much traffic and the neighborhoods are really nice along the way. Here's the route I used, which you can follow in Google Maps or something.

- From Old Bridge Road, left on 123/Gordon Blvd

- Right on Lee Chapel Road

- Right on Burke Lake Road...these two will get you through the South County and Burke areas. Lee Chapel is usually pretty clear. The big thing about Burke Lake is you want to leave early or late enough to avoid the buses going into Lake Braddock High School. That snarls traffic up for a period of time. Avoid that and Burke Lake is almost no issue.

- Cross over Braddock Road (don't turn, this road can be a nightmare) onto Woodland Way. This was always a very peaceful part of the trip, this is a very nice, quiet neighborhood to cut through.

At this point, I went through the neighborhood, picked up Woodburn Road and went around Merrifield and over to West Falls Church. To get to Tysons, you can try to main roads but the Merrifield area can be pretty backed up. Prosperity Avenue to Cedar Lane might be an option to get to Tyson's but I can't vouch for what those roads are like in the morning. Point is, you have plenty of options, there are far worse commutes out there.

I would recommend following those steps (I commute from Burke to Tysons Corner). Instead of going on Burke Lake Road, take Lee Chapel Road down until Burke Commons or Roberts Parkway. Go to the VRE commuter lot that is before the bridge, and take the Fairfax Commuter Bus 495. Very few people use this route, but per direction it is $1.60. If you want to drive, the best way without paying the exorbinant tolls on the 495 Express ways is to Go down Gallows Road. How you get there depends on traffic. Based on my experiences Prosperity is congested during rush hour. Either take Woodburn Rd, or cut through a neighborhood via Prince William Drive (from 236) - Glenbrook Rd - Barkley Dr. Then you can take either Cedar Lane (traffic bunches up because of the W and O Trail) or Prosperity Dr to Gallows. Honestly I got tired of either paying the high tolls (which has been as high as $9 dollars for the length of the express lanes), navigating side roads and stop and go traffic. Hence I'm taking the bus from the Burke Centre VRE.

FYI: I would recommend just taking the omnibus up to Tysons, there are circulation routes that Fairfax county runs that should be able to get you to where you work.

[gomason]

I think your best public transportation bet would be the OmniRide from Woodbridge to Tyson's which is about a 30 minute ride.

OmniRide Tysons Corner AM Schedule