Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
A couple of my mates and i will be driving up from the South eastern usa in august for a football match in philadelphia. I have entered our destination into my gps as well as on mapquest. both have us goin straight up I-95.
Is that the best route to make it through/around DC with the least amount of difficulty and traffic issues? i noticed on the map that there were several alternatives to 95 (495, 295 etc). I'm now a wee bit confused as to what's best. i'm sure the time of day has a lot to do with congestion and stuff.
What's the best route to take to bypass as much as i can and keep our already 10hr drive running smooth?
Time of day will make all the difference. Basically, it doesn't matter which route you take if you do it outside of the 3:30-7:00pm timeframe. Anytime within those hours and there's no guarantee that you'll have smooth sailing due to rush hour traffic.
Coming from the south, you'll be going "against" rush hour traffic pretty much all the way to DC, as DC workers will be headed south to homes in suburbia VA. However, don't take that to mean "light traffic".....take it to mean "lighter traffic." Once you traverse DC and enter Maryland, you will then be going "with" traffic, as DC workers head north to their homes in suburbia Maryland.
Of particular note, I-95 doesn't actually run straight through DC. You'll either have to take the 495 Beltway around DC and link up with I-95 north of DC, or you can take I-95 to I-395 through downtown DC and link up with DC-295 to get you through the city and ultimately linked back up with 495/I-95 north of the city.
In other words, there's not a real efficient way to transit DC. The 495 beltway is a long way around, but it presents the easiest option. I'd stay away from this area during rush hour if you can do that. You'll be glad you did.
I will say that the massive Springfield interchange rebuild, and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge replacement, which both opened several years ago, and each cost hundreds of millions of dollars, have made a big improvement in traffic flow on the southern part of the Beltway (Alexandria area). However, the Washington area overall, still ranks as having the second-worst traffic in the nation, according to national studies each year.
There is also Highway 301 between Richmond and Baltimore, but that alternative involves crossing the very narrow Potomac River bridge, followed by dozens of traffic lights through Maryland.
If you're traveling through on the weekend, you'll miss the rush hour traffic, but in the summer the weekend traffic on 95 between Fredericksburg, VA, and DC can be a bear.
The signs for 95 will take you around the east side of the Beltway (495). The Beltway will likely be a better bet than trying to go through the city. When you get near Fredericksburg, start listening to the traffic reports on the radio (WTOP 103.5, 107.7). While many of the references might not make sense (i.e., "Robinson Terminal"), if there's a problem (accident, construction) on the Beltway you'll know and can consider an alternate route. The "inner loop" refers to the lane of the Beltway that travels in a clockwise direction (from the south, the inner loop would take you around the west side of the Beltway (495) across the American Legion Bridge into Maryland. The outer (counterclockwise) loop takes you across the Wilson Bridge into Maryland.
Are the outer and inner beltways numbered different? 295, 495 etc. how far from philly is DC (travel time wise)? looks like i'll either hit dc traffic of philly traffic.
There are no inner and outer beltways, just one. We refer to the lanes traveling clockwise as the "inner loop" and the lanes traveling counter-clockwise as the "outer loop", but both loops are part of the same road. If you're not familiar with the area, I'd just recommend sticking to 95. 95 is the eastern half of the Washington Beltway. 495 is the entire Washington Beltway (so the eastern half is both 95 and 495). 295 goes through the city.
DC is 2.5-3 hours away from Philly. If you're going to a Philadelphia Union game, you actually don't have to go all the way to Philly- the stadium is south of Philly in a city called Chester.
I would plan to avoid DC rush hour and hit Philly rush hour instead, for two reasons: 1) DC traffic is worse, 2) If you're heading towards Philly in Philly's rush hour, you'll be going against traffic.
There are no inner and outer beltways, just one. We refer to the lanes traveling clockwise as the "inner loop" and the lanes traveling counter-clockwise as the "outer loop", but both loops are part of the same road. If you're not familiar with the area, I'd just recommend sticking to 95. 95 is the eastern half of the Washington Beltway. 495 is the entire Washington Beltway (so the eastern half is both 95 and 495). 295 goes through the city.
DC is 2.5-3 hours away from Philly. If you're going to a Philadelphia Union game, you actually don't have to go all the way to Philly- the stadium is south of Philly in a city called Chester.
I would plan to avoid DC rush hour and hit Philly rush hour instead, for two reasons: 1) DC traffic is worse, 2) If you're heading towards Philly in Philly's rush hour, you'll be going against traffic.
thanks for the advice. Rest assure I'd not be driving 10hrs for a philadelphia union match!! Celtic FC are playing real madrid that saturday in philly.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
