gdrj
Boardwalk owner since 1999
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2012
- Messages
- 1,844
Generally speaking, the traffic is very aggravating north of Fredricksburg, Virginia and smoother south of there. Fredricksburg is a good gas and food stop. I drove many times from north New Jersey, both non-stop and one-stop somewhere in SC. It cannot be stressed enough that you have to avoid rush hour in the D.C. area. The area from D.C. south to just above Fredericksburg is under construction for express lanes and back-ups can be terrible.
I drove north to NJ/PA/NY and back to FL in October 2014.
I live in Virginia and this is sound advice. ^
A couple of add on notes:
1- Avoid Virginia from Springfield to Fredericksburg(exit 130) from 2:30 until 7:00 PM
2- The Hot lanes do head Southbound after 12 noon M-F but they are EZPASS only. They will save you time but can be expensive (Verrazano bridge cost) but worth it. They have a new Flex EZPASS which will not charge the tolls with 3 or more people in car. Regular EZPASS will get charged.
3- Get to VA by going over the Woodrow Wilson Bridge (Staying East of DC). Dont take beltway 495 Towards Tyson VA.
4- If you are leaving on a Friday it is even more important to avoid the area!
5- Local radio for traffic updates is 103.5 on the "8's"
I use to live in NY and we would drive down. Sometimes we would drive through other times we would stop. I always try to get as far as possible to keep the 2nd part of the trip as short as possible and not to waste 2 days traveling