Has anyone done this drive or some part of it? How long does it REALLY take?
I would leave NOVA on Thursday morning, and drive back on Sunday. I have driven up to the NJ suburbs before, but not on this long weekend – and it’s 3.5 hrs normally. I would drive up taking 395 to 95 N to NJ Turnpike or 295 in south jersey. Driving back the same way as well.
Is it worth leaving Wed. afternoon? I can leave work by 2-3 pm on Wed., but will that traffic be worse than Thursday 10 am traffic? I tend to think traffic moves faster when it’s light out, and I would hit darkness by Baltimore (4-5 pm) on Wed. Also, is all of Sunday incredibly bad?
Was living in NYC previously so it was just about catching a train – the timing didn’t matter as much as it does now.
I have made a similar journey for many years. I agree with everyone else, leave Thursday morning. The worst traffic will be around Baltimore and then Delaware. There is a new expass lane that let’s you drive 10 mph faster, use it. If you are going without ezpass go to the far right toll booths, they’re always faster. It took me 10 hours one year. Much like dc traffic, it’s a parking lot going north by 3pm. Get out early Sunday morning.
I am actually doing a similar trip but going further north. I’m expecting no problems on Thursday morning (leaving really early) but Sunday can be very bad. The recent improvements around Baltimore, and especially in Delaware, should help a lot. Plus further north, the extension of the car/truck split on the turnpike will help also.
The drive Wed. will be horrible but you will get there Wed.
Depends on what you prefer.
Relatives go to school at UVA and drive up to NJ through PA rather than dealing with DC/Baltimore, but if you cannot avoid. then maybe Thursday is better.
I would agree with the majority of the posters. Leave Thursday morning, as early as you can, certainly earlier than 10 a.m. Members of my family who are coming to NY for Thanksgiving are flying in on Thursday morning, or driving in on Thursday morning. Wednesday traffic will be horrendous.
Definitely not leaving Wed. thanks to you all and that WP article!
How busy is Thursday really? I was under the impression that people start their long weekend by Wed. or even Tuesday. Is that no longer true? I know in my previous job, I was always out by Tuesday night so as to avoid the Wed travel day altogether. I’m in a new job this yr and just don’t have that type of vacation time yet.
I can imagine Sunday will be bad all day long.
On both days I am fully expecting a 3.5 hr drive to take 4.5-5 hrs. What I’m trying to avoid is for the drive to turn into something crazy like 7 or 10 hrs.
To the folks saying go thru Pa – how would that working coming from Virginia. Is that the route that takes you from NoVa towards Frederick Md. and then to Harrisburg and then you come across Pa. to Philadelphia? Almost seems like that adds some unnecessary distance, esp since I’m not going to North or Central Jersey but to a South Jersey suburb just outside of Phl. Let me know if you have an idea on that though.
It doesn’t make sense to go through PA if it is far off your route, and there’s traffic that way too. Remember that for the bad stretch of 95, there are close-ish parallel routes along the way. Between DC and Baltimore there is route 29 just to the west, and route 1, 295 and 97 to the east. They could be better, they could be worse, and accidents change everything.
North of Baltimore to the Delaware Memorial Bridge there is route 40 to the east. You can pick this up on the Baltimore Beltway (but there are lights). And many times it makes more sense to take 295 in southern NJ rather than the turnpike where it is only two lanes. You can easily cross back to the turnpike further north.
Traffic reports on WTOP are helpful in the DC area. I believe they are at 103.5 FM.
If you’re on 95, you can avoid the Delaware toll by getting off at exit 109 in MD, heading northeast on Elkon Road (279), then turn right on route 4, right at route 896 and you’re back on 95 at exit 1 in DE. You can even call it a drive-by visit of U of DE! And, there’s a Dunkin Donuts on the right side whether you are going north or south on this little cut through. Before Delaware expanded their toll plaza, it was usually faster to go this way, especially if you are heading south after a holiday.
Can you tell I’ve driven this route too many times? Haha, hopefully I’ve earned a break for a few years. The one time we went on Thanksgiving Day we left super early because we had to go all the way to Long Island. We hit traffic in NY, because you always hit traffic in NY, but at least that was the only place.
I did Baltimore to south jersey the Wednesday before thanksgiving two years ago…in inclement weather.
it was the most hellacious drive of my life. I think it took me 6 hours vs the typical 3. you would have thought there was a zombie invasion and the only way out was rte 95…i’m used to traffic, but this went above and beyond.
I sympathize, @kac425. My most hellacious drive ever was along 95 from MD to visit my family in downstate NY (not the City). Same weather conditions. It was the first year I was married (clearly, a while ago) and DH and I were bringing our new St Bernard puppy. Our car broke down on the NY turnpike and it took 3 hours even for an AAA tow truck to get to us. After that year, we spent Thanksgiving with DH’s family and visited mine over Christmas.
If you go on Thanksgiving Day, make sure you have a full tank of gas the day before, as gas stations will be closed and only the ones on state rest stops will be open and they’ll be crowded.
Gas stations will not be closed on the I-95 rest stops on Thursday.
For awhile, a few years ago, my wife was working in DC, and coming home to Philadelphia on Friday evenings. Without traffic, it would have been a drive of less than 2-1/2 hours, 80% of which would be included in a NoVa to NoNJ trip, at least if one takes I-95. In any event, it was common for a normal Friday evening trip to take 5-1/2 hours, sometimes even more. Wednesday before Thanksgiving will be worse.
Maybe if you waited until 9 pm or later to leave you could have reasonable traffic conditions. If you wouldn’t have trouble driving 3 or 4 hours late at night, that’s a real option.
We drive up and down I-95 from Florida to CT and usually check this link: http://www.i95exitguide.com/ I don’t think that gas stations directly on this highway will be closed, but not certain of any other connecting highways.
If you want to avoid I-95 through Maryland and Delaware, you can take the Route 50, create the Bay Bridge and up Route 301 to the Delaware Memorial Bridge. I take that route but I live in Maryland close to Route 50. If you do decide to go on I-95 but want to bail, you can go on Route 40 while still in Maryland which eventually leads to the Delaware Memorial Bridge but that is a much longer route.