[laboutj]

Originally Posted by Pat_RI

Hello,

I’m driving down from the RI border on the 23rd and I am thinking of hopping on the road at 5PM so I should hit NY around 8PM and DC I’m guessing around 11PM. Last time I drove and hit DC at 11pm it was a 2 hour delay due to them do construction at night. Should I try and avoid DC if so is there an alternative route around?

Merry Christmas

Your estimates are spot on. If it were me, I’d leave at 7:30 in the morning. You would hit some traffic heading into CT, but avoid the worst traffic from New Haven, NYC and NJ. That would also put you around DC at 2 in the afternoon or so, right before the afternoon commute. You would hit traffic in Richmond however. Our spots to stop on the way down are either Rocky Mount or Lumberton NC. With it being a weekday and right before Christmas, I would shoot for Rocky Mount as a first day destination, my guesstimate is that you would be there by 7:30 pm

[ladyarwen3]

THe 84/81 route will get you much further south and you can avoid a LOT of the big cities ... no NYC, Philly, Baltimore, DC to contend with!! Hubby and I disagree on the best route but the stress of those major cities takes its toll on you. Go the little extra distance and enjoy the drive rather than the white knuckled stress of the capital beltway, the Baltimore tunnels and NYC !

Originally Posted by tophcfa

We leave from Western MA and never risk going anywhere near NYC, NJ, Delaware, Baltimore, or Washington DC. Not worth it, drive an extra 100 miles and avoid all potential big city traffic issues. I would much rather drive the hour and a half to knock off the extra 100 miles than risk dealing with hours of high stress stop and go traffic. Plus, you avoid a bunch of tolls. Take 84 west to Scranton and then take 81 south through Pensilvania, a small slice of both Maryland and West Virginia, then once you get into Virginia there are a couple of good options to cut back east to I95 south below the beltway. The first option is to take Rt. 66 (about 12 miles south of Winchester, VA) to Rt. 17 to I 95 south in Fredericksburg, VA. The second option is to continue on 81 south past Roanoke, VA and then take I77 toward Charlotte, NC and then pick up RT. 26 around Columbia to I 95 south about an hours drive north of the Georgia state line. Both ways are almost the exact same distance. Gas is the cheapest in Virginia and South Carolina, so tank up before leaving those states. Have a safe and traffic free drive and a Merry Christmas.

[mcwood4d]

Originally Posted by Pat_RI

Hello,

I’m driving down from the RI border on the 23rd and I am thinking of hopping on the road at 5PM so I should hit NY around 8PM and DC I’m guessing around 11PM. Last time I drove and hit DC at 11pm it was a 2 hour delay due to them do construction at night. Should I try and avoid DC if so is there an alternative route around?

Merry Christmas

We try to always leave New England on a Saturday morning. This puts us in the VA area for the overnight stop depending on traffic and weather. Always worked well for us. Consider following waze for traffic mitigation. Best of luck 🤞

[Cranford61]

Originally Posted by VApeople

I have heard that some people catch Route 301 after Baltimore and follow it until it joins I-95 south of Fredericksburg.

On the other hand, if you are planning to take the Beltway around D.C., you may want to avoid crossing the Woodrow Wilson Bridge during the morning rush hour. We lived in Virginia and I worked in Maryland and I would cross that bridge in the morning, and it was usually no problem. However, the people living in Maryland had a much harder time driving into Virginia in the morning. This was 20 years ago, so maybe things are different now.

You like endless strip mall egresses and traffic lights?? Then you’ll enjoy this detour.

[EZRIDERMD]

When you cross Delaware Memorial Bridge take RT#1 to the "beaches", stay on 1 then go Rt113 to Pocomoke City, then onto Rt #13 across Chesapeake Bay Bay bridge tunnel to Virginia. Go south around Norfolk/Newport News to Rt 17 south around Elizabeth City, take Rt #64 to Rocky Mount, hop on I 95 south.

[MandoMan]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

We leave from Western MA and never risk going anywhere near NYC, NJ, Delaware, Baltimore, or Washington DC. Not worth it, drive an extra 100 miles and avoid all potential big city traffic issues. I would much rather drive the hour and a half to knock off the extra 100 miles than risk dealing with hours of high stress stop and go traffic. Plus, you avoid a bunch of tolls. Take 84 west to Scranton and then take 81 south through Pensilvania, a small slice of both Maryland and West Virginia, then once you get into Virginia there are a couple of good options to cut back east to I95 south below the beltway. The first option is to take Rt. 66 (about 12 miles south of Winchester, VA) to Rt. 17 to I 95 south in Fredericksburg, VA. The second option is to continue on 81 south past Roanoke, VA and then take I77 toward Charlotte, NC and then pick up RT. 26 around Columbia to I 95 south about an hours drive north of the Georgia state line. Both ways are almost the exact same distance. Gas is the cheapest in Virginia and South Carolina, so tank up before leaving those states. Have a safe and traffic free drive and a Merry Christmas.

I agree with you. I usually take the last option, Roanoke to Charlotte. However, last summer, after a night in a Roanoke motel, Waze took me south on 220 to Greensboro, NC, and then South on I-74 to I-95 near Florence, SC. The scenery was beautiful, it was all four lane highway, except for driving through a couple picturesque Southern towns, and there was hardly any traffic. I enjoyed it, even though I was driving a moving truck.

In Florida, I turned right on Highway 200 , North of Jacksonville (see map) and took that to Highway 301, which I took all the way to The Villages. Highway 200 looks small on the map, but it is fast four lane with almost no traffic. An alternative with a bit more traffic is I-95 to I-295 in Jacksonville, then West on I-10, getting off at Highway 301 to head to The Villages.

I agree with you: I’d rather drive a little farther to avoid hours of terror on I-95.

[Annie66]

Originally Posted by Pat_RI

Hello,

I’m driving down from the RI border on the 23rd and I am thinking of hopping on the road at 5PM so I should hit NY around 8PM and DC I’m guessing around 11PM. Last time I drove and hit DC at 11pm it was a 2 hour delay due to them do construction at night. Should I try and avoid DC if so is there an alternative route around?

Merry Christmas

We lived in the Annapolis area for 12 years. I can count on one hand the number of times I drove on the beltway around the District. The reason is we never found the 495/95 beltway an easy drive no matter what time of the day.

You may want to look at the following route. As you enter the Baltimore beltway (I-695), from the north, proceed to I-97 southbound. The entrance for I-97 is on the southside of the I-695 beltway. You can go either east or westbound on I-695. The distance is about the same. An alternate route is taking I-895. Once you are on I-97, take Exit 3 to MD3 southbound (do not get fooled and exit onto MD3 at Exit 7). Take MD3 to Crofton/Bowie and merge onto US 301 southbound. Follow US 301 to VA207 for about 14 miles and re-enter I-95 southbound at mile marker 104. You'll find yourself on I-95 just north of the Kings Dominion amusement park.

It's an easy ride and avoids the entire DC beltway and the congestion present on I-95 down through Woodbridge VA. We used this route exclusively when headed south to visit family and friends in NC. Hope this helps.

[Susan1234]

Do not thru NY City, go over the Tappan Zee bridge. I would avoid DC at all costs.I left at 5 from Ri and had no problems..

[mambeg]

Originally Posted by Pat_RI

Hello,

I’m driving down from the RI border on the 23rd and I am thinking of hopping on the road at 5PM so I should hit NY around 8PM and DC I’m guessing around 11PM. Last time I drove and hit DC at 11pm it was a 2 hour delay due to them do construction at night. Should I try and avoid DC if so is there an alternative route around?

Merry Christmas

A nice relaxing alternative is to take the Garden State Parkway. To the Cape May Ferry. Then take Rt 13 to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to Norfolk VA. You will end up in Emporia, VA on 95.
Adds time bus removes stress.

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by laboutj

Your estimates are spot on. If it were me, I’d leave at 7:30 in the morning. You would hit some traffic heading into CT, but avoid the worst traffic from New Haven, NYC and NJ. That would also put you around DC at 2 in the afternoon or so, right before the afternoon commute. You would hit traffic in Richmond however. Our spots to stop on the way down are either Rocky Mount or Lumberton NC. With it being a weekday and right before Christmas, I would shoot for Rocky Mount as a first day destination, my guesstimate is that you would be there by 7:30 pm

Richmond has an Eastern bypass (295), much like the Jacksonville bypass that avoids their rush hour quite well... Only adds a few miles to the trip, but can save lots of time...

And rush hour in DC starts pretty close to 2-3 o'clock...

[laboutj]

Originally Posted by JMintzer

Richmond has an Eastern bypass (295), much like the Jacksonville bypass that avoids their rush hour quite well... Only adds a few miles to the trip, but can save lots of time...

And rush hour in DC starts pretty close to 2-3 o'clock...

That is correct. If it looks like the OP or anyone else that's interested is going to get to DC between 2:30 PM and 7PM, get on 70 and head out to 81 and go from there.

If however the plan is to leave late afternoon, personally I would avoid driving on 81 late at night. There are stretches where it is very dark and very far between rest areas/exits, not to mention the huge number of deer.

[Marcojb]

I drive often from Massachusetts to Florida usually in one day (21 hours) . I recommend that you have AAA give you a trip ticket but avoid NY, Washington, and New Jersey; in essence stay off Rt 95. If its a one day trip suggest very early in the morning otherwise drive late morning and stay overnight in Virginia ( 12 hours)

[merrymini]

Check with maps or waze on line. There is a beltway around cities like DC which helps avoid city gridlock.

[laboutj]

Originally Posted by merrymini

Check with maps or waze on line. There is a beltway around cities like DC which helps avoid city gridlock.

There is a beltway around DC, unfortunately it's also gridlocked during the morning or afternoon commute.

I've done this drive south 4x this year (don't ask). The last time was a weekday and I left SE Mass at 6:30am because I was driving a large UHaul truck. I hit traffic in southwestern CT because I couldn't take the Merritt and then a little bit more getting over the GW bridge. After that it was fairly easy, even with a large truck that maxed out at 70. I stopped several times along the way for bathroom/food/fuel and was at the hotel in Lumberton NC by 8pm. In hindsight I should have waited a little bit to leave because I caught up to the morning commute in CT, that's why I said in an earlier post that I'd leave at 7:15.

[Joe C.]

I agree with Tophcfa ...... I've driven to the Villages many, many times from R.I. and Vt. His way has way less traffic delays, although I've seen some on Rt.81 once or twice, but nowhere near as many as NY, NJ, DC, and VA.
I like to leave between 3 and 4 am, and stop for breakfast around 7am. I always make it to Virginia the first day, and if I feel like it, I drive to the North Carolina border for my overnight rest. Have a good trip.