We are driving down tomorrow morning. Google has me take I-895 which stays close to Baltimore and DC. Would taking I-97 and route 3 to 301 better considering morning traffic?
When would you hit Baltimore & DC? Do you have an EZPass so you can take the toll roads without being slapped with a fine?
301 would be more scenic, but isn’t likely to be any faster - especially if you pick it up in Delaware and have to cross the Bay Bridge to Annapolis.
For traffic in the DC area, listen to WTOP at FM 103.5 It won’t give you any info about the Baltimore beltway, but it will inform you about any issues on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway (MD 295), I-95 between Baltimore and the DC beltway, the DC beltway, and I-95 at least as far south as Quantico. You can also check the current traffic map at http://wtop.com/traffic/
Around 8:00 am. I am looking into taking 95 to Baltimore then swicth 97 to stay further east of Baltimore and DC.
The few times I’ve done it, I’ve had success with 695 under the tunnel thru Baltimore, to 295 which turns into the Balt/Washington Parkway which goes right thru Washington’s east side and hits the 495 beltway just south of DC at National Harbor.
Any route you pick will be at the mercy of a local tie-up, but this route has generally been tolerable and has the advantage of being direct. The worst of it is the stretch of 495 west from Alexandria and down I95 towards Richmond. That seems to be perpetual parking lot.
I’ve just looked at this route with Google Maps, and I-95 to I-97 to MD 3 to US 301 does look like a reasonable option for dodging the beltway. However much of 301 is not limited access, so if stoplights and lower speed limits make you cranky, you might prefer just crawling along on I-95 and the DC beltway.
I know this comes late, but we drive down all the time and the main consideration is always timing it to miss rush hour in NYC, Balto and DC. Unless you have many miles first within NY State, you should be ok through Balto. When we do 301, we pick it up south of Baltimore. The traffic lights have always seemed to us to be timed. Ie, hit it right and you don’t stop much.
If it were me, what I’d do is wait til we got nearly to Balto and then recheck Google Maps, which can show you the time it will take on either route, at that hour. I have a mean suspicion 301 will beat 95 rush hour through DC. The traffic out of DC is a bear, then south of about Manassas, there always seems to be a huge back-up. Good luck, be safe.
Late, but once you hit I97, you only have freeway for a few miles. Routes 3/301 have a lot of lights, though they do thin out south of Waldorf.
Going south on I95 out of DC won’t be much of a problem during the morning, and the east side of the Beltway won’t be bad either for the most part. You are going to hit traffic going into DC, whether it be on 295, Route 3/to Route 50 or I95.
Emphatically agree with EVERYTHING Interesteddad said. And what’s the deal with the perpetual jam from DC to Richmond? Ugh.
I would avoid I-95 South from the D.C. beltway in any way humanly possible.
That DC to south of Fredericksburg/sometimes all the way To Richmond stretch is so frustrating. No matter what time of day I’ve gone through there it has been at a snail’s pace. The Baltimore through DC stretch is heavy traffic but tends to move pretty well in my experience.
Too late but…
When we drive south to North Carolina, we ALWAYS take Route 3/301. There is no way you can convince me that driving the beltway and then down I-95 south of DC through Quantico and Fredericksburg is faster. There is traffic at ail hours between the beltway and Lorton or Potomac Mills.
I realize this is after the fact for the OP, but for anyone traveling on I-95 in the near future:
S2 lives in Richmond & drove home to DC this past Thursday night (before Memorial Day weekend).
He left Richmond at 11 pm & did not arrive home until 2 am - 3 hours for what is ordinarily a 1.5 hr trip. After midnight! There is a lot of construction on both I-95 north & south to expand the HOT lanes farther south. Traffic both ways was narrowed to 1 lane at midnight+ between Garrisonville Rd & Rt 17/Fredericksburg.
If you can find an alternate route around I-95, you should do so.
Please do us DC commuters a favor and don’t drive through DC during rush hours (6-10 am, and 3-7pm). It’s bad enough with just our traffic but with out of state pass through traffic it’s a nightmare during the summer. If you are headed to NC, I’d suggest go down the Delmarva peninsula and take the Hampton Road bridge and tunnel to Norfolk, or I-81 to go around DC.