I 95 South of DC Is there a better way to go?
 

I travel by car between Fl and NJ primarily on I 95. I have run into very heavy traffic from about 495 (DC) south on I 95 for about 20 or 30 miles. Going in both directions. Any ideas on avoiding this area? Have you had similar problems? I drive this area on the weekends between 10 am and 12 noon. I am thinking that US 1 might be helpful but I have not been on this road. Are there a lot of stoplights and local traffic that would slow you down or can you pretty much go 50 or 60 miles and hour? Thank you.

Take 895 near U of Delaware south to 301 over the bay bridge continue on 301 through fort ap hill to I95 30 miles north of richmond VA. There are stop lights but way better than baltimore and DC traffic.

Yes, we always used to take 301 instead of 95 driving from NY to VA. It's a few more miles but way better than 95. plus there are restaurants and even farm stands along the highway.

Thank you

From the west side of the 495 beltway take Braddock Road West (5 miles?)
turn left / south onto 123 (Ox Road).
Take Ox Road south through Occoquan, VA
Merge back onto 95 South

If beltway has bad traffic approaching the Braddock exit, you gan get west via one of the prior exits (Little River Turnpike, Rt 50 W / Lee Highway, Rt 66 W, etc). All connect to 123 South (alternate names are Chain Bridge Road or Ox Road)

This will bypass all the problems around the Springfield interchange. Fewer trucks & generally faster.

I lived in the DC area for over 30 years. There is ALWAYS heavy traffic on 95 from DC to at least Fredericksburg, VA and NEVER go during rush hour during the week. Use 301 as suggested. Route 1 is basically nothing but stop lights and strip malls the entire distance. Have fun! I don't miss it one bit.

since the construction @ alexandria is pretty much finished, we charge straight thru to the 295 go 'round richmond/petersburg. you might like to read the I95 guide of recommended alternatives - The I-95 Exit Guide | Alternate Routes

DC south
 

I agree this is the worst part of the trip. We can't believe the car pool lanes there require three people and not two. while we are sitting in traffic the car pool lanes look practically empty. Has it every been suggested to make it minimum of two? Is the rte 301 suggestion also part of rte 1? thanks

I use to live about 30 miles north of Baltimore near Cal Ripken Stadium, that's on the rightside of I-95 as you pass Aberdeen southbound.

I would stay on I-95 until after passing the Baltimore Beltway I-695 on the northeast side of Baltimore. About 8 miles later you'll see a split, take I-895 Annapolis and you'll bypass downtown Baltimore and go through the old tunnel. After you come out of the tunnel look for the exit I-97 Annapolis. Take I-97 about 30 miles and you'll see an exit for Rt 3 to US 301. Take that exit and you'll join US 301 and go through Upper Marlboro and cross the Potomac River about 20 miles after Waldorf, MD. Plenty of places to eat or get gas along that stretch between Upper Marlboro and Waldorf.

Stay on US 301 and take the entrance to I-295 the Richmond Bypass, that's about 5 miles east of I-95. You'll be in the perfect position going around Richmond and then join I-95 south of Richmond, VA.

/

Going 81 to 15 around DC
 

Friends of ours who snowbirds from Orleans, Mass hates 1-95/495 corridor so avoids it by going near Ashville, NC and getting on 81 paralleling Blue Ridge and believe takes a little of 66 to 15 towards Leesburg. May want to look into this. However, they will be taking Autotrain this winter on our recommendation which means they have to come to Lorton via 1-95/495.

There are 2 major problems with making I95s HOV lanes HOV 2. The number of cars on 95 with a HOV 2 would increase ALOT slowing down traffic and thus reducing the effectiveness/incentive to carpool. Also you just cant look at the flow of traffic for another problem (big problem) would be the backup caused at the exit ramps..such as the pentagon. It now gets backed upped at times with HOV 3...just could not handle HOV2 or could that exit ramped be changed without great expense.

john - does that route to annapolis head to the maryland shore/clog up on anything but a winter weekend with traffic to and from the maryland shore area?

auto train
 

about how much is the auto train for two? does it matter what day of the week you go? thanks

DC bypass
 

I think i will try your route this october. i do take 895 through the tunnel to the parkway then my gps takes me a different way to virginia every time. On your route if it is a weekday is there a rush hour time to avoid? also about how many extra miles is it? thanks. ps: we we head north we try to get to aberdeen the first day of travel.. nice area

from jesey to florida
 

we are from NJ. hate going near baltimore and washington. last few times we have talken the cape may lewes ferry then bay bridge tunnel then onto emporia,va. after that 95 to 10 then 75 and villages. this avoids baltimore washington and can sleep on the ferry for about hour and a half. worth the money to avoid crowds in baltimore washington.

other thing if want to go though baltimore washington we found that going through early on a sunday morning ia less crowded too.

hope this helps.

We are from NJ too. We take cape may lewes ferry then bay bridge tunnel then drive to emporia,va and 95. can sleep on ferry for an housr and a half. worth the money to avoid the crowd at baltimore/washington

other way is to go through baltimore/washington early on a sunday morning by this i mean before 10am. we have found that this avoids the crowds too.

Traffic going to the eastern shore is only really bad on a Friday afternoon in the summer. I've never had any problems on I-97, you'll be exiting about 15 miles before Annapolis anyway, so the Bay Bridge traffic isn't that far out. If it's late in the day you may get commuters going home from Baltimore to Annapolis. I generally leave in the morning so I'm going south when commuters are going in the opposite direction into Baltimore or Washington.

In the morning from about 7am to 9am you'll have a lot of traffic going south on I-95 from the northern suburbs into Baltimore. The Route 24 Bel Air exit is two exits after Cal Ripkens Stadiium. That's where the commuting starts to pick up, if you pass that area after 9am you shouldn't have any problem. I use to live off of Route 24 for 13 years.

I think it would be less miles overall because your paralleling the interstate and not going as far west. You'll lose time not because of a greater distance but because of the slower traffic speed vs the interstate speed.

You have to have a vehicle, they even accept motorcycles. One train leaves each station in opposite directions everyday at the same time, 4pm in the afternoon from Sanford, Florida and Lorton, VA and arrive about 9:30am the next morning. So when that one train is booked, that day is closed. The train I rode two years ago the conductor got on the PA and made an announcement that we had set a record. Our train was over 4,000 feet long, I forget the exact length, had 450 passengers, 205 cars and 2 motorcycles. I'm sure that record has been broken since.

We used the Autotrain going home to Baltimore in 2011 after our LSV, it was in April and was $804 with 2 adults with one car one-way. Now that we live in TV, this August 20th we are going back north for a couple of weeks and it's only $750 round-trip for two adults and one car. As yo can see it's a big difference in price between April and August. I figured a round-trip would be two nights in motel, 60 gallons of gas, that's 30 gallons each way plus lunch, dinner and breakfast each way and 1800 miles on my 2013 car that won't be going on the odometer. I figure $750 is about break-even and I don't have to do any work, just sit and look out the window.


/


/

thanx, john, good to know! will file in the travel folder for the future. we try very hard to avoid travelling south in the summer [to family in the carolinas] because of travellers to points such as williamsburg, kings dominion, the eastern shore, etc! and besides - we love our jersey shore - even in the summer with all of the beach birds [tourists]! it's kinda like the villages at high season! ;)

Another way south from NJ is Garden State Pkwy to Cape May - ferry - Lewes DE then Rt 1 along coast road to Ocean City MD then RT 90 or Rt 50 west to Rt 113 then south to join Rt 13 south all the way across the CBBT @ Norfolk then I-64 around southside to join Rt 58 west to Emporia and back on I-95. From OC MD to Emporia is abt 200 miles. Mostly 4 lane all the way. Alternate to the beach road is to take Rt 9 from the ferry to Rt 13 south. All this may sound complicated but it works well to totally avoid Philly-Baltimore-DC hassle.

Does anyone think taking 13 from Delaware to Norfolk VA and then back to I-95 would make sense? Trying to avoid the construction and traffic jams.

13 or the bypass is tough through Delaware. Traffic lights and changing speeds make you an easy target for local police and your GPS can't keep up. (somewhat like parts of 301 as discussed in other threads) Going early may avoid traffic, just be forewarned.

What is the Autotrain? Do you know if I can get it in Massachusetts to Florida? I never heard of it, so I'm guessing the answer is no.

you are correct that you cannot catch it from mass...but you could pick it up in lorton, va.

here's the website for more info:
Auto Train Transports You and Your Car - Lorton, VA - Sanford, FL | Amtrak

Good post