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Can anyone speak to how tough a reverse commute from Leesburg, VA or Frederick, MD to Martinsburg is driving-wise on a day-to-day basis? I'm moving from the metropolitan Northeast, would be renting an apartment and from my basic research it seems as if the best options for me would be to live in either of those two areas. Thanks in advance for any input!
Can anyone speak to how tough a reverse commute from Leesburg, VA or Frederick, MD to Martinsburg is driving-wise on a day-to-day basis? I'm moving from the metropolitan Northeast, would be renting an apartment and from my basic research it seems as if the best options for me would be to live in either of those two areas. Thanks in advance for any input!
I have a coworker who lives in Martinsburg and has been commuting first to Reston and then Ashburn for the last nine years. I consider him a smart individual- but on this point he is nuts. I have watched him wear out car after car and become stranded a few times due to vehicle failure or weather related issues.
In my own meandering experience, I also was duped into living in Ranson, WV (cheap mortgage, property taxes, car taxes, insurance etc.) and doing a similar commute to Reston and then Ashburn for six years. At times both of us would see each other on the road and race into work. (We both worked nights.)
I ended up killing two of my cars, spending $$$ for fuel and car repairs and then there was the near head-on collision on route 9 back in 2011 which was my epiphany moment. You can read about my experiences on this thread:
In 2014 I got fed up with it all and moved to Leesburg. I am now 20 minutes from the office, have everything near me and am thinking about buying a electric vehicle and putting my gas models out to pasture.
Living in Jefferson and Berkeley counties and doing the West Virginia 500 on route 9 is setting yourself up for extreme misery. Route 9 on the Virginia side is a lousy and dangerous two lane road that the Virginians refuse to upgrade; the residents of western Loudoun County do not want to ruin their beautiful countryside. So every now and again you will hear about a bad accident- some distracted driver crossed the double yellow line and hit someone head on.
Doing the commute from Frederick county Maryland is quite similar- route 15 (south of 340) is just as bad as route 9 and again those who own the road will not upgrade it. Instead of building more roads down here they build more houses.
BUT traveling from Leesburg to Frederick is a much better commute 35 minutes instead of Leesburg to Martinsburg (pure misery) I think that travel time would be about an hour depending where you are going in Martinsburg.
Very helpful thanks. My job is in the Martinsburg area and I was just curious whether the commute was awful going from Leesburg or Frederick to there. I had read that commuting from WV to NoVA is nightmarish. Just wanted to see if the same was true in the opposite direction. Seems like it is.
Very helpful thanks. My job is in the Martinsburg area and I was just curious whether the commute was awful going from Leesburg or Frederick to there. I had read that commuting from WV to NoVA is nightmarish. Just wanted to see if the same was true in the opposite direction. Seems like it is.
I'm not sure why you say "seems like it is" at the end, doesn't seem like venture2000's response addressed your issue at all, seeing as you asked about the reverse commute.
I can't really answer your question either, but I can tell you that the few times we've had to go from Martinsburg-ish to Leesburg during the morning rush, the traffic has indeed been pretty miserable, but only going in THAT direction, I haven't seen any slowdowns at all going Leesburg towards Martinsburg, I'd assume that would be a pretty straightforward 45-minute drive.
I'm not sure why you say "seems like it is" at the end, doesn't seem like venture2000's response addressed your issue at all, seeing as you asked about the reverse commute.
I can't really answer your question either, but I can tell you that the few times we've had to go from Martinsburg-ish to Leesburg during the morning rush, the traffic has indeed been pretty miserable, but only going in THAT direction, I haven't seen any slowdowns at all going Leesburg towards Martinsburg, I'd assume that would be a pretty straightforward 45-minute drive.
I thought it was helpful because at least in the Northeast a two lane road that is congested in one direction causes rubbernecking in the other which slows an otherwise normal commute. Thanks for your insight on the way I'd be heading - I'm going to be completely new to the area.
It's a long drive from Leesburg to Martinsburg - period. But if you don't mind spending time in the car, then it's probably not a bad commute.
Rt 9 is two lane, as noted elsewhere, and I always feel that I'm caught behind a slow driver every time that I drive that road. While Rt 7 out to Rt 340 is slightly longer, it's four lane highway for virtually the entire drive. (You can cut off a few miles by using VA Rt 612 from the river up to the WV line.)
It's possible that cars could travel the Rt 7/Rt 340 route at roughly 62-63 mph, and not be the fastest cars on the road. The only stoplight would be in Ranson, WV. I'd be surprised if you encountered anything close to "heavy traffic" more than once or twice a year (assuming that by "reverse commute" you mean out to Martinsburg in the morning and back to Leesburg in the evening.)
There are worse commutes. Personally, I would advise you to live and work as close together as possible. But, this probably isn't a horrible commute.
Need to work in Martinsburg, WV. Looking to live in Virginia. Where do the millennials live that commute to Martinsubrg? I know so many firms are looking at the WV/MD/VA panhandle, but where do the young professionals live?
Winchester is very nice but if you need that drive the same car that everyone else drives and live in the same type of place everyone else lives in and do the same thing everyone else does lifestyle then you need to live in NOVA or DC proper and put up with the commute. Been there and have done that.
The older you get at some point you do the math and add up the 2 plus hours a day in a car driving to and from work and realize that it is insane.
Reverse commuting from Frederick to Martinsburg is a breeze. It's interstate highway the entire way. The only issue is the construction zones at the I-70 and I-81 interchange as well as the bridge construction on I-81 crossing from Maryland into Virginia. Commuting from Leesburg will take a bit longer because Route 9 is two lanes in Virginia, but opens up to four lanes in West Virginia. During the summer months, it's easier. When school starts, it takes longer. Due to housing prices and taxes, I would encourage you to look at moving to West Virginia. I also suggest you look at Winchester, Virginia, too.
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