Day before Thanksgiving I-95 traffic??

[mrsap]

I'm so glad you switched days. DC traffic is bad no matter what. Add holiday..worse. Add rain..OMG. Add snow… IMO, the stretch from the DC Beltway down to Fredericksburg VA is the worst. They are doing construction for HOT lanes and the shoulders are sometimes blocked which makes the lanes narrow. Be careful and just watch out for dummies

Thanks so much! I feel relieved but it always makes me nervous when we change plans. We're staying over night in an area we're not familiar with and we are leaving right after DD gets out of school. It will be fun surprising her right after she gets off the bus, but we always travel in the morning so it will be interesting to see how the kids are. Hopefully they will sleep! We will drive to NC and then finish the trip 'Thanksgiving eve.' Hope traffic will be ok!

Thanks again to everyone for writing!

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[lost*in*cyberspace]

Oh my! I cannot imagine the nightmare traffic you are going to encounter on I-95 the day before Thanksgiving. It's horrible enough on normal weekdays. Switching dates is a good idea.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I am thinking about the I-81 Route for our nonholiday vacation to Orlando next summer. advicde not asked for but if you are going to be needing gas soon after getting on I-77 look at going a couple of exits past and coming back. the area just past I-77 has some of cheapest gas in that area of I-81 at least from what we have found going to TN

I-81 is the most dangerous highway in VA.

 

[msb578]

I-81 is the most dangerous highway in VA.

I had no trouble with it, but I'm willing to admit that a couple of round trips are a very small sample size.

 

[rwdavis2]

I-81 is the most dangerous highway in VA.

Yes, it is a huge tractor trailer route and can get quite congested at times. We've been driving to Blacksburg from south of Baltimore for a couple of years.

 

[nono]

Just wanted to invite you over to this thread as you plan:

For 2000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers

Lots of friendly folks there who love to talk about the drive to WDW.

 

[mrsap]

Just wanted to invite you over to this thread as you plan: For 2000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Lots of friendly folks there who love to talk about the drive to WDW.

Thanks so much, I will!!!!

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[rbork]

Another local here. AVOID I95 around DC on Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Words just can't do it justice. All traffic here in metro DC/NOVA/MD is bad the day before thanksgiving.
Last time we drove we were stopped at 0100hrs in Quantico. Just stopped. Period

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Another local here. AVOID I95 around DC on Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Words just can't do it justice. All traffic here in metro DC/NOVA/MD is bad the day before thanksgiving.
Last time we drove we were stopped at 0100hrs in Quantico. Just stopped. Period

The area around Quantico is always terrible. I don't know how people drive it every day.

 

[North of Mouse]

I-81 is the most dangerous highway in VA.

Really? We've traveled it many times when living N. of DC and we just traveled it today from Roanoke area south. I find it hard to believe it's worse than I-95 which we've also traveled many times, and it has been a nightmare every time, no matter what time of day it was. There was not near the trucks on there today, that we 'always' encounter on 95.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Really? We've traveled it many times when living N. of DC and we just traveled it today from Roanoke area south. I find it hard to believe it's worse than I-95 which we've also traveled many times, and it has been a nightmare every time, no matter what time of day it was. There was not near the trucks on there today, that we 'always' encounter on 95.

Google it. You'll find plenty of information and statistics.

 

[PlutoPony]

Really? We've traveled it many times when living N. of DC and we just traveled it today from Roanoke area south. I find it hard to believe it's worse than I-95 which we've also traveled many times, and it has been a nightmare every time, no matter what time of day it was. There was not near the trucks on there today, that we 'always' encounter on 95.

The big difference between I-95 and I-81 imho is the elevation changes, which is a big deal with the volume of truck traffic on I-81. 95 is mostly flat, and trucks don't bunch up so much because of long grades. On 81 it's inevitable that you will find several trucks in the left lane trying to pass on pretty much every one of the long uphill climbs you encounter. And it gets dangerous quickly as traffic bunches up behind the trucks, sometimes for miles, until the trucks move right (and all heck breaks loose) or drivers move right to get around them UGH! Add in that the terrain in VA and NC tends to create it's own weather and you can see how it's earned its reputation as a dangerous road. It's such a relief to get a text from my son that he made it back to school down there safely. Of course he always adds what a pain the drive was....