DC at rush hour (cost, to move, best place)

[trayandtom]

Hey Folks-
May not be the best place to post this but we are making the move down to North Carolina next Tuesday. Everytime I drive south from Delaware through DC it is a traffic nightmare. Does anyone have a route south that has worked for them or that they suggest? We will be coming down I 95. Any help would be great! Thanks.

[MissDollie]

Don't know of any help for DC problem, but don't forget VA just closed 18 rest stops. If you use them, might want to check.

[Bmateo]

I suppose you could come down on the Eastern Shore and take the bay bridge/tunnel to Hampton/VA Beach, then drive to NC from there, but that is probably going to cost more time than it will take (yet be a much more scenic route).

Best bet is to drive at odd hours so that you are hitting DC between 9PM and 5AM. I know several people who regularly use this approach.

[lunadesign]

We do this trip often. The best thing to do is make sure you are PAST DC by 3pm, and you won't have a problem there. Unfortunately, the traffic in VA is much more unpredictable. Best of luck -

[rnc2mbfl]

Travel late night on a week night.
If you can't make it all the way to NC in the middle of the night, stop and sleep near Richmond and finish the short ride down without stress the next day after the morning rush hour.

[zinner]

I passed through DC Metro Sunday at about 3pm last weekend and I was in about a 45 minute traffic delay.

I have another friend that takes I81 west of DC and then 17 to Fredericksburg/I95 south of DC, not a good option for someone going to Delaware.

[aldamon]

When we drive north for X-mas, we always take 495 around DC to avoid the drawbridge.

[lunadesign]

Oh, and take 295 (instead of 95) around Richmond!

[capt chill]

Its a cr@pshoot, You might have smooth sailing or a heck of a time. Make sure you have maps and know how to read them. Forget about gps it will never help when its bumper to bumper and there is a slow crawl. Getting off and trying to find an alternate works with good local maps.

[Clever User Name]

South of Baltimore, pick up 301 (I think it's called something something else there, but a quick peek at the map should clear it up for you) and take it all the way to just north of Richmond. It's a much more pleasant and scenic (in parts) trip. You don't want to be anywhere near the DC Beltway or 95 between DC and Richmond at rush hour.

Once your in Richmond, just plow through on 95 South and pick up 85 South just past Richmond. 295 around Richmond only adds time. I drive throught Richmond a lot and I've never had an issue going through the city at rush hour, morning or evening. It may be heavy, but it always seems to move and is much faster than 295.