Worst commute you've had?

[dkf747]

Just experienced my 4th worst commute since moving to this area 17 years ago. It took 2.5 hours from Gaithersburg (near Montgomery Airpark) to Ashburn. I don't know what happened tonight, but it was pretty bad, even for a rainy day

[Mnseca]

My worst NoVa commute was from Lake Ridge south on 95 to Fredericksburg. It was only about 40 minutes without traffic, but even though I never traveled during rush hours there was frequently a major standstill somewhere on the route, usually going north. It was terrible to get home hours later than planned and to feel like I'd totally wasted that time sitting in traffic. I had to quit the job, and the commute was a big reason.

[mrskay662000]

Manassas to Fairfax and reverse. There is no time that 66 was not clogged. On the times I was headed to Manassas at 2AM, they closed down lanes to hose them off, leading to back up past 495. And I mean, every time I was on the road late at night. They repaved one stretch three times in two years.

Currently, there are bottle necks all hours of the night in the 495/66 area because of (what I think) to be metro work on the Silver Line? I don't know, but no lanes are closed in the area, yet everyone slams on their brakes due to construction lights and orange things that are 15 feet away from the road and blocked by temporary concrete walls. Additionally, people getting on near the 495 interchanges doing 30 miles an hour and refuse to hit the gas to merge. Instead, everyone slams on their brakes to let them in. This is despite their being a long merge lane and in one spot, a dedicated continuing lane.

My longest reverse was 4:30-9:30 - 5 hours. Why? Someone had a fender bender and they took out the left lane. No injuries or anything. Just... a fender bender.

[smarterguy]

Tysons to Tysons. Why's it bad? Because even though I live in the same town, I spend upwards of 30 minutes in my car to travel a few miles. Absolutely ridiculous. I ride my bike some days, which is the same amount of time, but with the roads like Dolly Madison, its extremely dangerous.

[scottfs]

Originally Posted by beatlecrazy

Right now I'm doing Alexandria to Chantilly. Mornings aren't that bad, takes maybe 35 minutes. Going home is the worst - takes about 70-90 minutes depending on weather and traffic patterns/accidents.

Are you pretty much doing 495/66/28? What times of day are you driving? (And home is Alexandria, not Chantilly?) I do Annandale to Chantilly and getting home has been brutal lately. You would think it's almost a "reverse" commute but it's not.

In the mornings I actually go out Braddock and up Stringfellow, but Stringfellow has been backing up so much lately that I can't get back down it in the evenings. So instead I'm taking Rt. 50 down to 66 because 28 south is such a mess in the evenings. But soon I'm going to be screwed when they close off Walney for 9 months starting in April or so, won't be able to get there from Westfields anymore.

[JT-3]

I remember once it took over an hour to get from Rt7 exit (near the Sheraton) to Tyson Corner mall parking lot. During Xmas of course, but that was all of 2 miles.

These commutes take years away from you.

[justtitans]

Originally Posted by mrskay662000

Manassas to Fairfax and reverse. There is no time that 66 was not clogged. On the times I was headed to Manassas at 2AM, they closed down lanes to hose them off, leading to back up past 495. And I mean, every time I was on the road late at night. They repaved one stretch three times in two years.

Currently, there are bottle necks all hours of the night in the 495/66 area because of (what I think) to be metro work on the Silver Line? I don't know, but no lanes are closed in the area, yet everyone slams on their brakes due to construction lights and orange things that are 15 feet away from the road and blocked by temporary concrete walls. Additionally, people getting on near the 495 interchanges doing 30 miles an hour and refuse to hit the gas to merge. Instead, everyone slams on their brakes to let them in. This is despite their being a long merge lane and in one spot, a dedicated continuing lane.

My longest reverse was 4:30-9:30 - 5 hours. Why? Someone had a fender bender and they took out the left lane. No injuries or anything. Just... a fender bender.

Have you ever tried to get on 29? I used to go Manassas to Chantilly and it wasn't awful. I found 29 to be much better than 66. I refused to get on 66. I also learned some short cuts around my job that helped me avoid some traffic.