driving directions???? Junction with 1-295

[langin]

Hello

We are driving from New Brunswick, Canada in August and I have lots of different driving directions (mapquest, freetrip, books,etc...) I am wondering when it says "Continue south on I-95 for 5 miles then Junction with I-295" Are you actually turning off somewheres or am I just still driving the same road and the interstate just changes name or #????

Thanks

 

[monorailsilver]

I am not sure where you are talking about but sometimes it may be the loop around the city.

I believe it is in DC-say you are driving south if you take the western route it is 95 & longer but if you take the eastern route around the city it is shorter & that may be 295 or 195.

And then it brings you back to 95 at the south end of the city.

There are usually the signs over head that tell you to stay right or left for the various main roads.

 

[bobcat]

If you continue on I95 it will take you through Jacksonville. I295 is the outer belt and you will need to turn off of I95 to take it. I believe it is a 4 lane highy vs. the I95 through Jacksonville which they have widened in spots to I believe 3-4 lanes. I295 takes about 10 min longer, we timed it one trip, but goes over a huge bridge, which I don't like. You also want to check out where the construction is currently going on in Jacksonville as they have been doing a lot of work on these areas.

 

[Bill From PA]

There'a an I-295 that loops around Richmond, VA, bypassing the central city area. We usually hit here in the wee hours of the night on the way to Myrtle Beach from NE PA and avoid the I-295 detour as I-95 through Richmond has little traffic between midnight and 4 am. During the day it's worthwhile to use I-295.

Bill From PA

 

[Mark P.]

Hi,

We just returned yesterday from our trip (drove from NJ), and while it's fresh in my head, I'll list the routes we saw and/or took. We hit all the ares listed before or after rush hours, and that surely helped, as we ran into no major delays or problems.

These are just my opinions, and there may be some local routes that do the same, but here's the majors, and what what we opted for.
Hopefully this will help you and possibly give you an idea of which way you'd like to travel...

Baltimore
There's a few options here: I-95, I-895, and I-695.
The route we took is the I-895 Harbor Tunnel Thruway.
Little FYI here: Both I-95 and I-895 go through tunnels, whereas bottled gas is prohibited. Some folks just don't like tunnels, and if that's the case or you're traveling with bottled gas, then I-695 is the way to go. Like the two previously mentioned routes, I-695 is also a beltway that also goes around Baltimore over the Francis Scott Key Bridge rather than the tunnels. Looks like a time eater, but it's a non-tunnel option.

Wash. DC Area
Coming up onto the DC area, you can either take The I-495 Capital Beltway East or West.
We chose the I-495 EAST Capitol Beltway route, which took us over the Woodrow Wilson (draw) Bridge. There is construction on this route, and there could be delays because of this or because of the draw bridge. (Even though it's the I-495 Capital Beltway, Looking at a map, it looks like this route is also considered I-95.) This route was noted here on the boards as the best way to go...

Richmond, VA
Again, we sailed through here on I-95 (after rush hour)
Another option is to take is the I-295 beltway around Richmond. We've taken it before on other trips, and it doesn't add much time, and is easy off I-95, and back on.
Probably the way to go if it's during business hours.

Jacksonville, FL
Like Richmond, there's an I-295 Beltway around Jacksonville. We took this
I-295 route heading south, and took I-95 coming back, and ran into some congestion, but nothing major, as it was just after the a.m. rush. In the future, I'd probably stick with I-295 both ways regardless of the time.

Have a safe trip

-Mark