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forgive me as I know there are threads on this topic in general but I'm looking for some specific advice for routing over this holiday weekend.
I'm driving from NW NJ (Sussex County) to N. Raleigh departing early Saturday morning - around 5am and leaving Raleigh for NJ on Tuesday afternoon (hopefully early afternoon).
Like others, I'd be inclined to avoid I95 but I've never been on I81. A concern I have is that its harder to wiggle through slow moving traffic when on 2 lane highways and feel that I do better on 3 lane interstates.
I'm thinking I should try 78W to 81S but am not sure how far down to go on 81 before turning East - and I'm a little concerned about my ability to work my way through traffic on 81.
I'm not the best night driver so may just suck it up and take 95 (its well lit) all the way north on my return...
I-95 is a nightmare starting (or ending, depending on which way you're headed) between Richmond and DC, and is almost always been bad up through Wilmington/Philly (which as far as I've ever driven on it). This past Sunday my wife drove up 95 to NOVA, and wound up getting off at Richmond and going up Hwy. 29 because of the backups and delays north of Richmond.
Headed south, I'd take I-81, then cut east on I-64 to Richmond, then pick up 85. Reverse it on the way back north. I'm sure thats a longer drive than 95 if 95 is moving, but it almost never is. I-81 is no picnic, due to lots of trucks and some hills, but at least it keeps moving, in my experience.
Last edited by carolinadawg2; 05-22-2015 at 09:43 AM..
On your return trip, if you do take 95 I would leave Raleigh around 3pm. If you take 295 around Richmond you'll avoid a good amount of Richmond rush hour traffic. If you leave earlier than 3pm you'll most likely get to DC right at rush hour (depending on traffic). Leaving later in the afternoon gets you there when things have started to "lighten up" since you're traveling North bound.
Weather is supposed to be nice on Saturday so you might get lucky with the drive down. The best trip we ever had was on a gorgeous 4th of July - we left NY at 3 p.m. and literally didn't recognize certain places that are always backed up with traffic because we were going by them at 75 mph (I'm looking at you, NoVA). We made it to Fredericksburg in 6 hours!
Going back you need to accept the fact that you're going to hit traffic. Period.
You're gonna get clobbered driving through D.C. tomorrow, I can almost guarantee it. Jumping over to I-81 will not save you time, but it will keep your sanity intact.
Heading North I'd stick to 95 but strongly recommend you use either Google Maps or Waze to monitor traffic.
I have driven I81 to I78 frequently from Charlottesville to northern NJ, and it is slightly longer in distance, but at best about the same as I95 and can save you hours when 95 is backed up, which is frequently. Its only disadvantage is that there are some very boring stretches in PA.
From Charlottesville to Raleigh I would strongly recommend route 29 or even 15; so take I81 to I64 then off the interstate. It's more direct, about the same time if there's no traffic on the interstate and shorter when there is. Far more scenic.
Repeat in other direction. Every time I go I95 saying it's shorter, Google says its shorter, etc. etc, it backs up while I'm on it.
Good luck and safe driving.
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