How to get out of D.C. on a Friday afternoon? (Frederick: home, moving)

[Zimar]

So we're off to Northern WV tomorrow afternoon, and usually we take I-270 out, but as you may know, I-270 all the way up to and including 70 is the world's largest parking lot on Friday afternoon, particularly with the holiday coming up. Does anyone know of ANY alternate routes to get out of D.C. and to I-70 (we're heading for I-68 W into WV)?

[rsh56]

Not that I can think of. Going North, everyone heads home to the suburbs at that time and traffic won't be great regardless. Is there a possibility to leave a bit earlier in your schedule?

[MacSmooth]

Originally Posted by rsh56

Not that I can think of. Going North, everyone heads home to the suburbs at that time and traffic won't be great regardless. Is there a possibility to leave a bit earlier in your schedule?

That's exactly what I was going to say. There may be no avoiding the traffic though. It's a holiday weekend, so ALL the roads are going to be clogged today and tomorrow with folks trying to get out of town.

[justtitans]

Originally Posted by Zimar

So we're off to Northern WV tomorrow afternoon, and usually we take I-270 out, but as you may know, I-270 all the way up to and including 70 is the world's largest parking lot on Friday afternoon, particularly with the holiday coming up. Does anyone know of ANY alternate routes to get out of D.C. and to I-70 (we're heading for I-68 W into WV)?

I agree with the other posters, to be honest this maybe one of the worst weekends of travel in this areas of the year. A lot of people will be traveling out of town for the first time in months so the traffic volume is going to be extremely high, probably starting from lunch period tomorrow. Not sure if there is an alternate route for this one.

[rsh56]

Any route going North at that time is going to be jammed regardless. I would suggest leaving as early as possible, like in the AM where the route to WV isn't jammed.

[Zimar]

Unfortunately, I can't take off of work that day OR leave early (else we would have just left today), so we are considering leaving pretty late, around 7 or 8 pm, but I don't know how late we will need to leave to avoid the worst of it. I just don't want to have another two hours tacked on to our trip, especially since we have a 7 month old baby in the car with us. Is 7 still too early?

[westsideboy]

I can't help you with I-270, but when you hit Frederick get on Rt. 40 and head west. You will have to go through the city limits of Frederick and Hagerstown, but the traffic will at least be moving. Once you get close to the I-68/I-70 junction, you will be forced back onto I-70 for the last few miles. Once you hit I-68 there won't be any traffic unless somebody had an accident.

I have made the Frederick to Cumberland trip many many times, and going Rt. 40 adds about an extra 30 minutes on the trip, but it is consistent. If you stay on I-70, you might make some time...or you might get stuck in traffic. I choose the sure thing, even if it is a bit longer over the crap shot of the interstate, especially on Holiday weekends.

[rsh56]

Originally Posted by Zimar

Unfortunately, I can't take off of work that day OR leave early (else we would have just left today), so we are considering leaving pretty late, around 7 or 8 pm, but I don't know how late we will need to leave to avoid the worst of it. I just don't want to have another two hours tacked on to our trip, especially since we have a 7 month old baby in the car with us. Is 7 still too early?

All I can say is that it does get better after 7 with maybe a few spots entering Frederick County.

[jmking]

You could check out "White's Ferry". That could be jammed. You could also head into Va and take 66 west then 81 north perhaps.

[boomtownfunlover]

I wonder what it would be like taking route 7 to Leesburg then WV route 9 thru Martinsburg to US522 to Hancock.