Give It To Me Straight: Woodbridge to Ft Belvoir (Manassas: renting, townhouse)

[Shelsi]

We've been living up in Springfield for the past 9 months so my husband has a nice opposite commute to Ft Belvoir. It takes him about 15 mins to get there and about 10-15 mins to get home in the afternoons.

We're thinking of moving to Woodbridge. What would his commute be like realistically? He goes in at 7 and gets off at 3 typically.

[ChristineVA]

Depends, of course, on where you pick to move in Woodbridge. It's a big place.

I would say, to get in a 7 AM, it would mostly be about a 30 minute commute max. Leaving at 3 PM, again, no more than that and probably less. I think the morning commute will be heavier.

That said, if you move way up on the Prince William Parkway toward Manassas and have to commute down either the parkway or Old Bridge Road, that can get pretty bad/congested. That's going to take most of your 30 minutes there.

I live down off Cardinal Drive and I leave my house at 5:20 to go to DC. I am past the Ft. Belvoir exit at 5:35 a.m. so, technically, at that time I could get to Ft. Belvoir in 20 minutes (again, I'm pretty far south, almost to Dumfries).

What area of Woodbridge are you looking at?

[Shelsi]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

What area of Woodbridge are you looking at?

I'm really not sure yet. This is just something we've been thinking about recently and we don't know the Woodbridge area very well at all. We'd like 4 bedrooms for $1700/mo or less (renting) and it could be a townhouse or SFH. School district doesn't matter since we're homeschooling but a family friendly neighborhood with parks nearby are important.

[ChristineVA]

So you will need to look in the Lakeridge area (which puts you on the congested Old Bridge Road), or Montclair which puts you in Dumfries (but really has an entrance in the south end of Woodbridge). If you move to other areas of Woodbridge that are newer, they are really closer to Manassas--I'm thinking of the Hoadly Road area which will put you out there and really add to the commute.

Overall, Woodbridge to Ft. Belvoir is not horrific but it won't be as nice as your reverse commute.

Oh, and Friday evenings in the summer--a real BEAR on both 95 south and Rt. 1.

[oneasterisk]

If you leave early enough, Old Bridge Road isn't too bad but it really depends on the time you leave.

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by oneasterisk

If you leave early enough, Old Bridge Road isn't too bad but it really depends on the time you leave.

Agreed. My parents live off Old Bridge but they are heading down Old Bridge no later than 6 AM. It's not a really big issue. There have been times that my mom went to work later and she was "GRRRRRRRR....Old Bridge was SO slow." It also gets very bad near the high school area around 7:00 AM with the buses and kids crossing the road. It probably gets bad in the afternoon around 4:30 p.m. and later. There are some Friday nights that my mom crawls up Old Bridge. But that is around 4:30-5:00 p.m.

[PegJames]

Hi Shelsi ,

Your asking a great question, one that lots of people would like to know. The straight scoop from a Realtor that knows is the commute to Ft.Belvior from Lake Ridge will be a half hour or more depending on the time you leave and where exactly you live. The closer to Rt 1 you are the easier it will be. Old Bridge Rd can be tricky, however it's not all about the commute.

Consider the lifestyle differences. Would the move afford you better schools, better amenities, a nice home. If the answer is yes, then those things may out weigh the commute.