gail

Directionally challenged son will be driving north from Savannah to Boston. What directions are best from Richmond, VA to NJ Turnpike (we can handle it on either end of that) for someone who is very likely to get lost other than just staying on I95 and dealing with traffic.

He has a Magellan GPS-type thing, but it seems to route him straight thru DC.

Intrepid1

Advise him to keep his eyes on the road and watch the aigns.

When you approach the bottom of the Beltway on -95 the route for I-95 and Baltimore/New York is very clearly marked.

Advise him to stay on I-95 and he will not get lost.

GeorgeW

Or else you can take Route 301 North from the Richmond Beltway until Route 50 in Prince George's County, Maryland. From there you take 50 East to the Riva-Annapolis area where you take Route 97 North to the Baltimore Beltway Route 695. Take Route 695 East towards the Key Bridge. This will eventually link up to Route north towards Philadelphia.

lolfn

once he gets close to delaware, he should no longer follow signs for 95. NJ Turnpike is not 95. he should follow signs for the delaware memorial bridge/ NJ/ NY (right lanes). 95 will take him toward philadelphia.

Budman

Shortly after he pays the $2 toll on the Delaware Turnpike, Rt 95/495 splits off to the left toward Phila, and Rt 295 to the right towards the Delaware Memorial Bridge/NJ Turnpike. His GPS should signal him to stay to the Right.

rkkwan

They must have like a dozen signs for that split, even have things marked on the lanes and double-lined lane dividers for like 2 miles. Still I always find lots of people switching right before the split, like they're totally lost. Pathetic.

gail

So if I tell him to take I95, follow signs to Delaware Memorial Bridge, then signs to NJ Turnpike, there is a reasonable chance he will get past Washington?

Fortunately, there will be at least one other person in the car. Thanks for the help. I am not trying to hold his hand - in fact, I have found a great deal of (silent) humor in his tales of being lost in America. The GPS has helped, though.

bokchoy

As long as he pays really close attention he should be fine. I usually do that drive several times a year. I think the hardest part about getting on the Del Mem Bridge and then the NJ Turnpike is just that there's a lot going on in that general area, lots of cars, choices as which way to go, etc. Sometimes people who are bad with directions freak out and get nervous. Other than that the drive is pretty easy!

Budman

No, the Del Memorial Bridge is way after DC/Baltimore.

Coming up from Richmond, when he hits the DC Beltway in Springfield, VA, follow the signs to Rt. 95 which goes off to the right toward Baltimore.

Also, my GPS (Garmin) takes me off RT 95 just South of Baltimore thru the Harbor Tunnel (Rt 895) instead of the Ft. McHenry Tunnel (Rt 95). Not to be alarmed, it is a bit shorter, and merges back into Rt 95 just North of Baltimore. Look at it on mapquest to visualize it.

gail

Thanks again - I think the best idea is to have him drive thru this area and have his friend navigate. One thing is that if he makes a wrong turn, the GPS thing will re-route him. (And getting lost a few times is part of the learning curve)

rkkwan

Okay, I think a step-by-step is in order.

- First, if he's arriving from south of Richmond, he should take I-95 Exit 46 to get on I-295 before Petersburg. This is the Richmond/Petersburg bypass.

- Continue on I-295 North for 43 miles, and then take Exit 43 to get back on I-95 North.

- Approaching Washington, he'll get to the "Mixing Bowl", which is Exit 170. Like others have said, STAY RIGHT to stay on I-95. I-95 shares part of the Capital Beltway I-495, so he'll see signage for both I-495 East and I-95 North.

- Continue on the "outer belt" of the Capital Beltway I-95/495 for 34 miles. Then he needs to stay right and take Exit 27, I-95 North, towards Baltimore.

- Stay on I-95 all the way through Baltimore (which includes the Fort McHenry Tunnel), into Delaware.

- We're already covered this. After paying the toll on the Delaware Turnpike (I-95), he needs to stay right and take the lanes for I-295/NJTP/Delaware Memorial Bridge.

- After crossing the bridge, there are a bunch of exits immediately afterwards. Ignore those, stay left and he'll be on the NJTP.

Budman

rkkwan pretty much has it down turn for turn. Beware that on the following segment, the GPS will probably divert him through the Harbor Tunnel, Rt 895.

"- Stay on I-95 all the way through Baltimore (which includes the Fort McHenry Tunnel), into Delaware."

Either way will get him to his destination.