Philly To Orlando - Driving - Avoiding Washington DC On I-95

[sunking]

Good afternoon everyone!

First, let me say that we have made this trip by car probably 15 time by now..everytime we take this trip we ask ourselves "how do we avoid the traffic mess that Washington DC is?"

So...

We will be setting out on our trip to Disney on Thursday afternoon after my wife and I are done work. I'm thinking that we will be out the door, leaving the Philadelphia area at around 3:00pm.

If all goes right we will be hitting the DC area around 5:30/6:00pm.

I know that we need to go thru DC but what is our best bet? Going south during rush hour are we better off taking 495 around DC to the east or the west? Is there some other route that I should consider?

Our driving plan is to leave the Philly area about 3:30 and and arrive into Lumberton NC area by about 11:00/11:30pm.

Thanks for any suggestions that you might be able to make.

 

[thumbalyna]

when i make the drive from Scranton, we take 495 --- i always avoid DC i hate the beltway with a passion

 

[sunking]

when i make the drive from Scranton, we take 495 --- i always avoid DC i hate the beltway with a passion

Isn't 495 the beltway? I thought that 495 wrapped around DC and that coming from the north you could take 495 to the west or east of DC.

 

[thumbalyna]

i apologize, i take the Outer beltway which is not as bad, its the run that runs straight thru dc that i have a problem.

495 isnt that bad it takes you thru bethesda and such.

i used to go another way that i would take 81 to the MD boarder and then get onto 66 then 15/17 and go that way until i hooked up with 95 in VA

 

[WillCAD]

Good afternoon everyone!

First, let me say that we have made this trip by car probably 15 time by now..everytime we take this trip we ask ourselves "how do we avoid the traffic mess that Washington DC is?"

So...

We will be setting out on our trip to Disney on Thursday afternoon after my wife and I are done work. I'm thinking that we will be out the door, leaving the Philadelphia area at around 3:00pm.

If all goes right we will be hitting the DC area around 5:30/6:00pm.

I know that we need to go thru DC but what is our best bet? Going south during rush hour are we better off taking 495 around DC to the east or the west? Is there some other route that I should consider?

Our driving plan is to leave the Philly area about 3:30 and and arrive into Lumberton NC area by about 11:00/11:30pm.

Thanks for any suggestions that you might be able to make.

East/west is a matter of rather intense debate around here! The east side of the Beltway is shorter, but often has heavier traffic and more construction. The west side is longer. Of course, it also has a lot of traffic.

The best way to avoid traffic on the Captial Beltway is to simply drive it during the off-hours.

If you hit the Capital beltway at 5:30-6pm, east or west won't matter - you will add 2-3 hours to your through time. DO NOT keep to this schedule! It is the absolute WORST time of day to drive anywhere near DC! And Thursday afternoon is the second-worst day of the week (Friday being the worst).

The best time during the work week to go around DC is either before 6am or after 7pm. The middle part of the day between 10am and 3pm is doable, but it can be scary - traffic on the Beltway is lighter and moves very fast, but drivers in DC are insane.

If you can't get out of work any earlier on Thursday, then driving through the night is your next best bet; leave Philly about 3 hours later than your original plan so that you hit DC no earlier than 7pm, otherwise you'll get stuck in some of the worst traffic in the entire region.

when i make the drive from Scranton, we take 495 --- i always avoid DC i hate the beltway with a passion

495, or to be more precise, Interstate 495, IS the Captial Beltway. It goes around DC like a donut, and I-95 does not go straight through the city, so you have to take I-495 either to the east or west side to get around DC.

 

[sunking]

What about the Baltimore Washington Parkway (MD-295)? I could pick this up in Maryland and it looks like it goes right thru DC and puts you back on just before the drawbridge. I would guess that this would be no better then I-95 and the beltway.

Any solutions that take me west of Washington to avoid the mess?

 

[WillCAD]

What about the Baltimore Washington Parkway (MD-295)? I could pick this up in Maryland and it looks like it goes right thru DC and puts you back on just before the drawbridge. I would guess that this would be no better then I-95 and the beltway.

Any solutions that take me west of Washington to avoid the mess?

MD 295 is a scenic parkway. The advantage of it is, trucks are prohibited. The disadvantage is, it's only two lanes each way, and is prone to heavy backups over the last 5 miles before it hits the north side of the Capital Beltway.

Once it gets inside the Beltway, it's even worse - narrow, twisty, congested, and easily jammed. From Baltimore to DC, it's a viable alternate if I-95 gets backed up, but it's almost never a viable alternate to get through the middle of DC.

The only viable alternate route to the I-95/MD 295 corridor from Baltimore to DC is I-97 to MD 3 to US 301. US 301 will take you through southern Maryland to the east of DC, and once you cross into Virginia you can cross back over to I-95 via several east-west routes. I only recommend this detour if I-95 is jammed because of an accident, because there is a 15-mile stretch that's signalized and pretty congested on an average day; it's no quicker than I-95 unless I-95 or the Capital Beltway has a bad accident that snarls traffic more than usual.

I can't stress this enough - don't try going through, around, or near DC during a Thursday afternoon rush hour! If you do, you'll lost those 3 hours anyway, so your best bet is to simply delay your departure from Philly by a few hours and miss the rush entirely. Get yourself a nice dinner and rest up for a while after work, pack up your car at a leisurely pace, and depart later. You'll make better time and enjoy the ride a lot more that way.

 

[zurgswife]

Totally agree with WillCAD.....your time frame is the worst from Philly. You will also pick up some traffic around Baltimore.

 

[tjmw2727]

Totally agree with WillCAD.....your time frame is the worst from Philly. You will also pick up some traffic around Baltimore.

ITA -we are in Northern DE and will only drive south leaving DE after 7pm or before 5am to avoid the DC traffic. There really isn't any other way and the traffic is always bad. Last trip I left from DE for southern VA around noon and it was still awful.

You are almost better off leaving later or the next morning, otherwise just make sure you take a pit stop prior to DC and allow for a few extra hours and alot of stress

TJ

 

[zurgswife]

It is the drive around Baltimore and around DC that makes me fly from Philly. I have been caught in hours of traffic for no apparent reason. Rush hour on the other side of Springfield headed toward Quanitco is a nightmare also....It can range from 3-7 hrs of hell.

 

[jobie61]

I agree, you are picking the worst time to hit DC. The east route will probably be your best bet.

One other option, is to use route 301. It will put you back on 95 just before Richmond. You will miss all of the 95 congestion....but 301 has traffic lights in a lot of sections, but you will keep moving, and it will be faster than siiting on 95.

You can pick up 301, by using I 895 to I 97 near baltimore, then follow route 3 into route 301. Google it, this will be your best plan for avoiding the DC insanity. Ive used it many times in the past.

Good luck, let me know if you have any questions.

 

[GranddadTom]

I work one mile up New Hampshire Ave from the Beltway, and I commute to work each day using the Beltway, so I know the Beltway. You are hitting it at a very bad time BUT given that that is the time that you will be getting there, let me say a few thing. As you come down Rt. 95 and hit the beltway, at that time of day, it's best to go west on the Beltway (which is Rt. 495). Believe it or not, in the evening that is the direction of the lightest traffic. I'm on there every day at the time you are talking about. It is not going to take you three hours to get around the beltway - but it is realistic to say that things go slow. Tune into the radio station 103.5 for traffic updates on the :08's. Unfortunately, here is the bad news - Rt. 95 south on Washington in Northern Virginia. Again, slow but not impossible. Traffic on the beltway begins to ease up after 6:30 pm and on Rt. 95 in Northern Virginia about an hour later. If you could just delay leaving home until 4:00 pm you may be able to skate through Washington. One other positive note - I think that since the gas prices have gone up, the traffic seems (just my opinion) to be a little lighter. Lately I've had some days when I flew home. Also Thursday will be much better than Friday. Good luck. Oh, one other thing, I'd advise against the Rt 301/Nice Bridge route idea.

 

[zurgswife]

Going south and using 301 MD my sister always has luck. I have never tried it perssonally.

 

[sherreis]

I'll agree with everyone else about avoiding the DC area at that time. It's the capital beltway and northern VA until Fredericksburg that's the problem. When we drove down 2 yrs ago it seemed like it took us forever to get through that area and we hit it around 3:00 on Friday. It added a lot of time to our drive.

 

[MrsNick]

Hi! I don't know DC, but I agree with the other posters that you should leave later, and hit DC after 7 PM. I live in the NY metro area, and it is the same thing here. 5:30 - 6:00 PM is the height of rush hour nightmare.

After work, go home, take a nap, grab some dinner, and then hit the road after 5 PM. You'll be so much better off not to hit a major metropolitan area like DC at rush hour. There's no point, and you won't get to where you're going any sooner than if you just leave later.

 

[3darlings]

It is the drive around Baltimore and around DC that makes me fly from Philly. I have been caught in hours of traffic for no apparent reason. Rush hour on the other side of Springfield headed toward Quanitco is a nightmare also....It can range from 3-7 hrs of hell.

To me, the northern VA section of 95 is by far the worst. The beltway can be slow but the VA section all the way to Fredericksburg is just terrible anytime even close to rush hour. I just can't understand why VA can't do anything about that road (I find myself muttering this all the way though!) We also live in DE but I work in Washington twice a week and often travel to NC on 95. I always go the shorter east side of the beltway and usually in the afternoon not too bad (not so when heading north). But either way you go on 495, you will still travel the dreaded VA section. You really need to hit the VA section by 3 to make it manageable (which means leaving by 1). Also, you will hit traffic in DE and Baltimore if you leave Philly at 3:30. Both have major construction projects on 95 at the moment. If you can't leave earlier, my suggestion would be to wait awhile to leave Philly. Good luck whatever you decide!

 

[bookwormde]

It would ruin my vacation to try to drive through Wilmington/Baltimore/Washington at that time of day. I go home and take a nap and head out at 10 or 11 pm. DW takes over at dawn and we are at WDW by noon or a little after.

Who would have thought 3 people from Delaware on the same thread that will never happen again.

bookwormde

 

[sunking]

Thank you all for your opinions and suggestions. I think our best bet is to delay our departure a little bit to avoid the traffic. I have driven the Wilmington and Baltimore part several times during rush hour and it is not that bad (usually). If we get out of the house by 4:00 and hit the DC area about 7:00pm we should be in good shape.

If all goes well we should hit Lumberton, NC by about midnight/1:00am and be able to get a bit of sleep before heading out for the remainder of the trip on Friday morning.

Thanks again!

 

[pumpkinboy]

East/west is a matter of rather intense debate around here! The east side of the Beltway is shorter, but often has heavier traffic and more construction. The west side is longer. Of course, it also has a lot of traffic.

The best way to avoid traffic on the Captial Beltway is to simply drive it during the off-hours.

If you hit the Capital beltway at 5:30-6pm, east or west won't matter - you will add 2-3 hours to your through time. DO NOT keep to this schedule! It is the absolute WORST time of day to drive anywhere near DC! And Thursday afternoon is the second-worst day of the week (Friday being the worst).

The best time during the work week to go around DC is either before 6am or after 7pm. The middle part of the day between 10am and 3pm is doable, but it can be scary - traffic on the Beltway is lighter and moves very fast, but drivers in DC are insane.

If you can't get out of work any earlier on Thursday, then driving through the night is your next best bet; leave Philly about 3 hours later than your original plan so that you hit DC no earlier than 7pm, otherwise you'll get stuck in some of the worst traffic in the entire region.

495, or to be more precise, Interstate 495, IS the Captial Beltway. It goes around DC like a donut, and I-95 does not go straight through the city, so you have to take I-495 either to the east or west side to get around DC.

If your times are set, and you are due to hit DC at rush hour, you may want to think about avoiding 95 altogether until you hit SC. You might think about a more scenic and less congested route thru the Shenandoah Valley and the Blue Ridge Mountains. From Philly, you might do I-76 100 miles west to Harrisburg, then I-81 >330 miles southwest to I-77 (another 230 miles south) to Columbia SC; then I-26 back to I-95. Google Maps estimates that this would add 90 minutes to the trip, but it ought to save you from Beltway gridlock in DC which could easily cost you 2 hours at rush hour. Plus it's pretty!

I am bringing our new wheelchair van (for DS) back from Atlanta on Friday, so I'll be testing out a good chunk of this route real soon. I'll be turning on to I-77 up to I-81, and then straight on as far as Scranton, then east on I-84 into New England. Colleagues who have driven down to WDW swear by it; of course coming from Boston, the western route helps you miss NYC in addition to DC, so it's even better.

Good luck!

 

[BC1836]

And consider an early morning depature on the weekend. That's what we have done most of the time since our first drive in 2002.
All the best.

[See also the "For 2,000+ mile drivers only" thread on the THEME PARKS page.]