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Our daughter just moved to the Arlington area. We left to go back to NC via I95 around noon on a Saturday. Would love to come back but traffic was horrible and bumper to bumper all the way to the NC line, even US 301 was backed up. For a future trip we would like to know when are the best times to travel-midnight? never on a Sat? We want to go back and see all the historic sights. We hate flying but may have to consider that. Just want to know if anyone has experience making these trips and if some times or routes are better. We don't own a smart phone so we couldn't use an app to warn us but we may have to get one in the future.
Our daughter just moved to the Arlington area. We left to go back to NC via I95 around noon on a Saturday. Would love to come back but traffic was horrible and bumper to bumper all the way to the NC line, even US 301 was backed up. For a future trip we would like to know when are the best times to travel-midnight? never on a Sat? We want to go back and see all the historic sights. We hate flying but may have to consider that. Just want to know if anyone has experience making these trips and if some times or routes are better. We don't own a smart phone so we couldn't use an app to warn us but we may have to get one in the future.
I used to go to school in NC and I would have to go back and forth between MD and NC throughout the year. One thing I would say, during the summer months, is to avoid traveling up here on weekends. Those are the worst times, whether going north or south. It would be best to pick an awkward day like Thursday for example to come up and leaving Friday before afternoon rush hour for a quick trip or just staying until Monday after rush for a longer trip.
During the fall though, there are a few options. I'm not sure what part of NC you are going to but since you mentioned 301 I would assume you are trying to go on the eastern part. My recommendation is to, believe it or not, is to go through DC on 395, take South Capitol Street, cross the Douglass bridge, to follow the road straight to Suitland Parkway and go south on Route 5 in MD. This seems like a lot but route 5 turns into 301 in MD and you go across the Potomac River Bridge ($4.00 toll) and you will be in King George VA. There will likely be some traffic along this way but once you get close to the bridge, you won't see traffic for a long time. Once you are in King George, I would recommend staying on 301 all the way down until you get close to Richmond (the road splits of and become 207 so you have to turn off on it to continue). 301 will then run into 295 near Richmond. From there you can ride it out (usually never gets backed up on there) and by the time 295 connect with 95 again, you will almost be in NC. Coming up to avoid traffic you can do the reverse. During times where you may drive into rush hour traffic this is a good way of avoiding DC area and Richmond area traffic.
I used to go to school in NC and I would have to go back and forth between MD and NC throughout the year. One thing I would say, during the summer months, is to avoid traveling up here on weekends. Those are the worst times, whether going north or south. It would be best to pick an awkward day like Thursday for example to come up and leaving Friday before afternoon rush hour for a quick trip or just staying until Monday after rush for a longer trip.
During the fall though, there are a few options. I'm not sure what part of NC you are going to but since you mentioned 301 I would assume you are trying to go on the eastern part. My recommendation is to, believe it or not, is to go through DC on 395, take South Capitol Street, cross the Douglass bridge, to follow the road straight to Suitland Parkway and go south on Route 5 in MD. This seems like a lot but route 5 turns into 301 in MD and you go across the Potomac River Bridge ($4.00 toll) and you will be in King George VA. There will likely be some traffic along this way but once you get close to the bridge, you won't see traffic for a long time. Once you are in King George, I would recommend staying on 301 all the way down until you get close to Richmond (the road splits of and become 207 so you have to turn off on it to continue). 301 will then run into 295 near Richmond. From there you can ride it out (usually never gets backed up on there) and by the time 295 connect with 95 again, you will almost be in NC. Coming up to avoid traffic you can do the reverse. During times where you may drive into rush hour traffic this is a good way of avoiding DC area and Richmond area traffic.
Good advice I am from Winston-Salem and I take this route sometimes, usually there isn't much traffic
Thanks,yep we live in wilmington, nc on the coast and we can arrange our schedule pretty easily to go on different days-maybe a Thursday to a Monday(although that might be a little too much together time for our daughter).
I bet a lot of people were headed to the Outer Banks/VA Beach for Saturday to Saturday rentals. Same thing going out to the Delaware Coast. Ha, I know I've hit traffic Sunday mornings (9-10am) going South from DC, but not as bad as you describe. Also a few Saturdays ago, I took a ride down 301 to the $4 toll bridge and hit a lot of traffic on the northern part. Not sure if that's a normal thing or not. Can't escape around here. I would have to imagine early AM on Sunday is fine. But who knows...
Google Maps on my android smartphone has colors on the roads for traffic speed. I can't say for sure its saved me time when I've altered my route because of it, but when I check my phone AFTER I get stuck on a road thats stop and go, Google Maps will show the road being slow...
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