Washington DC Traffic Question

[NJBILL]

We will be taking the auto-train to Disney in July. We will be coming from southern NJ to Lorton VA.

Under the two scenarios below, is there a more desireable time to travel to avoid DC traffic:

Leave 6am Monday July 20 from NJ
or
Leave about 6pm Sunday July 19

Not sure if there is any kind of traffic from folks coming home from Maryland Shore etc..on the weekends.
Any comments are welcomed.

 

[grimley1968]

I haven't lived in the DC area for a few years, but generally I'd say avoid Route 50 and/or I-66 on days surrounding summer weekends. But mostly this is a problem east of DC on 50, when dealing with traffic returning from Rehoboth, etc.

I don't know how long it will take you to get from your home to Lorton, so I can't comment on the 6 AM departure time. If you could possibly delay getting to the DC area until after about 8:45 in the AM, you'd probably not have any issues. I really don't think you'd have any problems coming the night before either.

 

[GranddadTom]

For the Washington beltway and Rt. 95 south of Washington to Lorton I would favor your Sunday plan. I assume that you are around 2 1/2 hours north of the Washington beltway? The Monday plan would have you getting onto the Beltway around 8:30 am - not the best time to be getting onto the Beltway although a good time l;ater in your trip for getting onto I-95 South (because the morning traffic there is going north into the city). The Sunday traffic returning from the Maryland beaches on Rt. 50 disperses well before it ever get to the Beltway. The Sunday plan would have you getting onto I-95 in Northern Virginia around 9:00 - 9:30pm. There will be a good amount of traffic coming back to the city but going south you should be okay.

 

[NJBILL]

For the Washington beltway and Rt. 95 south of Washington to Lorton I would favor your Sunday plan. I assume that you are around 2 1/2 hours north of the Washington beltway? The Monday plan would have you getting onto the Beltway around 8:30 am - not the best time to be getting onto the Beltway although a good time l;ater in your trip for getting onto I-95 South (because the morning traffic there is going north into the city). The Sunday traffic returning from the Maryland beaches on Rt. 50 disperses well before it ever get to the Beltway. The Sunday plan would have you getting onto I-95 in Northern Virginia around 9:00 - 9:30pm. There will be a good amount of traffic coming back to the city but going south you should be okay.

Thanks.

 

[lbdpw1285]

We will be taking the auto-train to Disney in July. We will be coming from southern NJ to Lorton VA.

Under the two scenarios below, is there a more desireable time to travel to avoid DC traffic:

Leave 6am Monday July 20 from NJ
or
Leave about 6pm Sunday July 19

Not sure if there is any kind of traffic from folks coming home from Maryland Shore etc..on the weekends.
Any comments are welcomed.

NJ Bill
I would leave Sunday nite and stay at Comfort Inn at the Lorton exit.
No need to worry about Sunday or Monday traffic. Get up late on Monday, have a leisurly b-fast and wander over to the train. Less than 1/2 mile.
We did this for the first time this past January and will do it again next January. It's a real de-stresser.

 

[Capt_BJ]

NJ Bill
I would leave Sunday nite and stay at Comfort Inn at the Lorton exit.
No need to worry about Sunday or Monday traffic. Get up late on Monday, have a leisurly b-fast and wander over to the train. Less than 1/2 mile.
We did this for the first time this past January and will do it again next January. It's a real de-stresser.

if you can swing it .. that'd be my recommendation too. The south 95 traffic from the Maryland side thru the Lorton area can be a surprising 'killer' even on the weekends. Give yourself a good cushion and start the vacation stress free. Get there the nite, or even afternoon b4 & use the extra time for a quick drive by of a few DC sites ....

In the morning you could even squeese in a visit to Mt Vernon and be at the station rested and entertained.

 

[Cmbar]

I agree you don't want to be in Monday morning traffic if you can avoid it. Even leaving early AM from NJ you will run into the Maryland people going to DC. Everything is difficult (on all sides of the beltway) starting about 5:30 AM. Now if you can swing hitting the Baltimore/MD area after 9 am and head through DC after that you should be fine. Personally I would never try to work through DC if I had a train or Plane to catch. I would definitely go with the Sunday evening route. Traffic from Ocean City will be mostly clogged on 5O west and around 66 west which you will not hit. Good luck!

 

[NJBILL]

NJ Bill
I would leave Sunday nite and stay at Comfort Inn at the Lorton exit.
No need to worry about Sunday or Monday traffic. Get up late on Monday, have a leisurly b-fast and wander over to the train. Less than 1/2 mile.
We did this for the first time this past January and will do it again next January. It's a real de-stresser.

Thanks for the help..just booked a room at the comfort inn..heading out Sunday nite.