Wilson Bridge - I-95 - DC Beltway - Major delays July 14-17, 2006

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

I read about this in the Richmond paper and wanted to pass this along for all those driving on I-95 this weekend.

New Wilson Bridge Opens to First Traffic This Weekend - Major traffic delays anticipated over weekend (June 9-12) as I-95 North traffic is switched onto new bridge. I-95 North (Beltway Outer Loop) reduced to single lane for up to four miles; continued night-time closures on weekend of I-95 North and South at MD210

Go to www.wilsonbridge.com for Adobe files of the press releases with all the details. This flyer was in the paper here and pretty well describes what's going on and what to expect.

There's also another closure coming up in July, this affecting the southbound lanes / inner loop to the Beltway.

Best alternates would be the US 301 route to the east of DC, the Beltway around the north and west end of DC, or 295/395 through DC itself.

ETA: This article was in today's Richmond paper.

 

[DJNOWICK]

Just FYI, 295/395 through DC itself is rather tricky unless you know what you are doing. Would not recommend doing it at night for your first time -- it's not the greatest area around there.

Rt 301 is a better bet if you factor in traffic, especially the traffic going south between DC and Kings Dominion.

Jackie (works in DC)

 

[agnes!]

I heard this on a DC-area news station this morning...

The Inner Loop(I-495/95/Eastern section of The Capitol Beltway) switch-over, from the present configuration to the new Bridge span is presently scheduled to take place over JULY 14TH "Weekend".

For those looking to get around any traffic, consider these alternatives...

1)the Eastern section of The Capital Beltway which goes through Bethesda-Chevy Chase/Montgomery County/over the American Legion Bridge at Cabin John is viable.
ONLY IF YOU HAVE TO travelling South and traffic is bad enough(like 10 miles/not moving, etc.) take I-66 West/Exit #49 off of the Capitol Beltway towards Front Royal. Then take one of the *many* southbound exits off of I-66 that will take you eventually back to I-95...
Exit #53/County 28 South/becomes Prince William County Parkway. That will meet up with I-95 at Woodbridge.
Exit 47/County 234 South/Sudley Road/GRANT Avenue/Dumfries Road.
If travelling NORTH on I-95, the west/northbound alternatives would be:
Exit #152/Route 234/Dumfries Road to Manassas/I-66/I-495(Capitol Beltway)/AT Beltway take West/North direction to Maryland
Exit #158/Prince William Parkway/Route 28/I-66/I-495(Capitol Beltway)/AT Beltway take West/North direction to Maryland
Get a good local map and have some alternatives planned out. ADC Maps is a local company and you can order their infamous "book maps" of many different areas, their web address is: www.adcmap.com .

2)I-81 runs North/South, but over near the western edge of Virginia. Sometimes has a lot of truck traffic, is mostly two-lanes.

3)301 has traffic lights, lots of local traffic, but crosses the Potomac River way south of the DC area. You can re-connect onto I-295(the Richmond ByPass) and onto I-95, from 301. Many folks like this one a lot.

4)Route 1, North/South, goes from New England to Key West. Not optimal at all, but if traffic on the Interstates is not moving or is at a *very* slooooooow crawl, Route 1 will do in a pinch. The Route 1 Interchange near the WW Bridge is also part of the renovation & is a mess. Proceed with caution.

5)If traffic a really nasty, take a look at the Eastern Beltway/I-66/Route 29 combination. Yes, this is probably waaaaaay out of your way, but could be better than not moving for a looooong time.

This next info will probably help the most!
Keep your car radio on some of the local radio stations. The two DC ones that come to mind are:
AM-630...WMAL...news & talk, regular traffic reports, emergency traffic reports as needed
WTOP...103.5/FM & 820AM. This station has the best radio traffic reports, but fairly recently changed their location on the dial, unfortunately the reception is not as good now as iot was at the old dial numbers.

good luck,
agnes!

 

[mickeyfan2]

We drove home from WDW on June 9th. They warned us about this closure in GA. We calculated our arrival at the bridge. We would arrive right at 8 pm. We took 207 (I95 exit # 104) to 301. We stayed on 301 until 5 and then took 5 back to the 95/495 beltway above the bridge. The ride was nice and we only arrived hom 30 minutes later than expected.

 

[Uncleromulus]

One can only hope that the "new" Wilson Bridge will make all this mess worth it in the end---

 

[Uncleromulus]

Agnes: A friend of ours in Springfield VA. says that the Inner Loop "switchover" is set for July 14-16, not July 4. Any news of any change?? Important to find out which dates are correct.
THanks!!

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

The Wilson Bridge website still says July 14-17, and the flyer I linked to says July 14-17. I haven't heard or read of any changes to the date.

It also says that the backups and delays that weekend are expected to be much worse than in June.

 

[Uncleromulus]

That's a full 4 days--what a mess that'll be!!!

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Actually, it's not quite the full 4 days, and I apologize for not noting more details, which can be found here. (pdf file, need Adobe Acrobat to view)

The change is expected to start at 8:00 PM Friday July 14 and last until about 5:00 AM Monday July 17. At least local commuter rush hour traffic won't be impacted as bad, but anyone travelling through on vacation in the overnight hours will definitely be affected.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Thanks!!
It's the "until about 5:00 AM" that could case the real problems---. Even 15 minutes after that and they have a MASSIVE backup on their hands.

 

[agnes!]

Uncle & Obi, you are correct. The next major realignment/closing/general yuckiness at the Woodrow Wilson Bridge *IS* scheduled for July 14th on the southbound side (going from Maryland into Virginia, Inner Loop of the Capitol Beltway).

I *swear* that is what they said on the news the day I first posted , so sorry .

agnes!

 

[Uncleromulus]

Well guys-this is THE weekend for the closing and new route.
Just a bump for this , in case some unsuspecting WDW bound traveler hasn't heard about it.