The family is headed east to Bethany Beach this Saturday and Dad doesn't want to sit in any back-ups at the Rte. 50 bay bridge. Can someone who travels this way frequently tell me when I can avoid the worst of the delays? My 2 and 4 yr. old's thank you in advance.

Ken

I don't know how far away Bethany Beach is from you but traveling Saturday morning it will be crowded, D.C. people wanting to get to the shore for the weekend. I'd say take off Friday a.m. to avoid the rush or time yourself for the bay bridge about 6:00 a.m. Saturday morning before everyone else gets started.

If you can get over the bay bridge early on Friday then you would be wise to do it. I live in Annapolis and it's terrible getting home on Friday and saturday.

If you can't then try to get to the bridge BEFORE 6 am on saturday. There's only one bridge and lots of people wanting the beach.

Friday before 3:00 should be ok.
Saturday you get the people whose weekly rentals start that day

I should qualify my question. We can't check in to the rental until 2 pm. on Saturday. So we will either leave the DC area around noon or wait until the evening.

Sometimes this alternative works- get off at the exit just before the McDonald's. I believe the exit will be called St. Margaret's Road (Route 179) and Cape St. Claire's Road. The exit will take you to Cape St. Claire's Road. Take the right at the stop light onto what is really an access road parallel to Route 50. There will be a Citgo/7-11, a closed down Roy Rogers and a closed down Denny's. You'll pass them as you pass the developement of Revell Downs. You'll take the access road for two miles until you reach Sandy Point park. Take a right and you'll be on an overpass above the traffic line-ups for the Toll booths. Take a right to get back down near the booths. As an editorial comment, I believe the bridges are long paid for. However, Maryland's government loves to squeeze as much money out of its people as humanly possible. I am sure some politicians in the state would put wealthy taxpayers on the rack just to get them to pay more money. They ought to close down the toll plazas and maybe weekend traffic might be better.

If you get to the bridge by 6:30 am you should be fine.

Go early on Saturday and spend the day at the beach until your rental unit is ready. The afternoon backup will be AWFUL.

Hint..Go to rental office when they open and complete paperwork and pay. They get backed up when people check out(later in the morning) and and new people check in.

If you are nice, you can probably get keys to your unit from the realtor(if you promise not to go early).. Then leave your cell number and they will call you when your unit has been cleaned and ready for check in.

It would be a shame to lose a half day or more by leaving Saturday evening. If you leave by 7:00 am you would be OK. Stop for breakfast on the other side of the bridge. You'll arrive in Bethany around 11:00. You could visit Rehoboth, have a nice lunch, even sit on the beach for an hour or two. That's our plan...we want as much time there as possible.

The Bay Bridge on a saturday morning is pretty bad. All the weekly rentals turn over at 2pm. There are two spans, one eastbound (with 2 lanes), one westbound (with 3 lanes). During peak travel times they turn one of the west bound lanes into an eastbound lane to give you 3 lanes instead of 2. They do this on Friday evenings, but do not do it until 2pm on Saturdays, so that all the people who finished their week at 10am on Saturday can get back across the bridge westbound. So Saturday morning you get a double whammy--all the people trying to get down by 2pm to take their rentals, and only 2 lanes eastbound until 2pm. My advice is to leave VERY early (6-7am) on Saturday morning, or else wait until 2pm on Saturday. The trip from the bridge to Bethany should take you about 2.5 hours without much traffic.