<p>My d and I will be doing a modest college tour next week. We need to get from Dickinson College in Carlisle to the Capital Beltway as quickly and efficiently as possible. But mapquest and google maps gave us different directions! I’d truly appreciate some help from folks who know the area.</p>
<p>Mapquest suggests taking 74 from Carlisle to 15 to the I-270 spur to the Beltway. (I’ve taken 15 to 270 and like it for the break from the truck traffic on 81.) Google says to take 81 south to 70 east to 270. Any suggestions for which might allow us to make better time? We should be leaving Dickinson around 11 AM. </p>
<p>Our eventual destination that day is Williamsburg, VA. Interestingly, both mapquest and google think the trip should take exactly 4 hours and 31 minutes. We’d like to arrive in Williamsburg by 4:30 PM (meeting someone), so we’d have an hour to allow for a bathroom break, construction, other stuff.</p>
<p>Take 15S to 270S…70E doesn’t run into 270…you’ll have to cut down using 97, 27, 94, or 32. My summer job involves a bit of dump truck dispatching in Frederick, and thats the fastest way we get our trucks down to 495.</p>
<p>As soon as you get into Frederick, tune to 103.5 fm WTOP. Every 10 minutes, on the 8’s, they’ll give you traffic. Listen for jams…they’ll frequently tell you what lane to avoid. Listen for the following key phrases, ‘down to the split’ (that’s where Southbound 270 meets the Beltway aka ‘where the lanes divide’) , ‘the American Legion bridge’, (that’s the bridge you’ll go over on the way to the Virginia side) or ‘the GW Parkway’ (you’ll pass the entrance and it can back up into the right lanes of the Beltway). You will be on the “Outer Loop”…the diff between Inner and Outer can confuse even long term residents. </p>
<p>Please be advised that there is no ‘rush hour’ anymore. The traffic is heavy and fast-moving 24/7. I hope when you pass through that there are no haz-mat spills, suicidal bridge standers, ambitious tractor-trailers stuck under overpasses, or any other of the 1001 delights that make car travel in this region the wonderland that it is. Be careful and defensive.</p>
<p>DEFINITELY 15 to 270. At 11 am, traffic shouldn’t be too bad southbound. What passes for non-rush hour traffic in the DC area, though, is worse than many other areas’ rush hour. Be alert, and the cops have lots of speed traps on 270 around Clarksburg.</p>
<p>What day of the week are you traveling? If it is a Friday going south from DC to Williamsburg in the summer can be an issue starting shortly after noon. Definitely tune into 103.5.</p>
<p>Novelisto, I loved your post. As a born and raised Washingtonian who hasn’t lived there for a lo-o-o-n-g time, I am always blown away by “non” rush-hour traffic. Now I have it in black and white that rush hour starts at the stroke of midnight and continues until 11:59 pm.</p>
<p>Not to mention that areas we used to go out to for Sunday-drives-in-the-country are now standard commuter bedroom towns, taking the traffic out to “there.” Frederick used to be “way” out there. Hmmph.</p>
<p>We’ve visited my oldest d fairly often since she relocated to the DC area, and what I’ve mostly seen is high-volume traffic moving very, very slowly. Thanks for the heads-up that it sometimes moves rapidly, as well. We’re traveling on a Thursday, so I hope the traffic gods will be kinder than they are on Fridays. </p>