best route Bronx,NY to Washington,DC
 

I shutter to say this, but I have to drive from Morris Park in the Bronx to WDC on a Friday afternoon, the weekend before thanksgiving. Google directs me to the X Bronx and I-95. I have a terrible sense of direction, but an even more terrible sense that there will be ALOT of traffic on this route. The area I will be in in the Bronx is near the Hutch and the Bx River Pkwy. Thank you for any ideas! and happy thanksgiving.

The worst part will be getting across the GWB, and that's your only realistic option.

You didn't say what time of day you'd be leaving. That'll make a big difference.

leaving the Bronx between 2:30 and 3:00 pm

Sorry - but a person cannot "shutter" - that decorates the windows on a house. A person can "shudder".

I would do everything I could to leave earlier. If you can leave by about 10 am or so the traffic won;t be as bad to and across the GWB and you can reach DC before dark.

However if you wait until late afternoon it will be bumper to bumper until you are onto the Jersey TPKE and you won;t get to DC until about midnight - driving most of the way in the dark.

If you are near the Hutch you can take it north then west on the Cross Westchester, then south on the Saw Mill River to the GWB. This will have less traffic but it's a large loop so it probably won't be any faster - just a longer distance at a higher speed. And there's always the risk of running into heavy traffic or accident on the later route.

And if you have a terrible sense of direction suggest you get a map - YES a paper map - and mark the route on it will a color marker. Then type the directions in very large type - 24 pt or so - in bulleted form so you can glance at it while driving.

If you can use a GPS that's another option. But if you're one of those people who can only follow what route IT chooses and not switch it to your own - don't bother - it will only confuse you.

You should be okay leaving the city.....but you'll probably encounter commuter traffic along the way, starting in southern New Jersey on down.

I'll agree with nytraveler - try to leave a little earlier , if at all possible.

Your biggest problem will be traffic on the X-Bronx and crossing the GWB - there's always construction just before you get to the bridge (where X-Bronx, Major Deegan X-way & East River/Harlem Rive Drive merge) that causes a back-up on X-Bronx (not to mention the overturned tractor trailer truck that always seems to happen when I travel that route). Unfortunately you really don't have any other better option to leave the city.

However, I disagree a bit with nytraveler in that once across the GWB traffic my experience is that, at that hour on a Friday, traffic could be heavy but it does move along at a good pace. Once on the NJ side of the bridge traffic is equally dispersed to all the various highways so you'll be traveling at, near or possibly above the speed limit. iI's only about 250 miles from the Bronx to WDC and even allowing for some traffic slowdowns as you near some of the larger cities on route I'm guessing it will take you around 5 hours - meaning if you leave between 2PM and 3PM you'll be arriving around 8PM (not midnight as suggested by nytraveler).

I said midnight before the OP said 2 or 3 pm - I was assuming 5 or 6 pm since the OP said late afternoon I assumed after work.

Does anyone ever take the Verrazano?

Beware of the Delaware Memorial Bridge. It can be as bad as the GWB since I 295 and the NJTP converge just before the Bridge.

Does anyone ever take the Verrazano? From the Bronx into NJ, no.

Regarding the Delaware Memorial Bridge, I'm not sure what beware means. If you're driving to DC you need to cross that bridge as the most direct route. Be prepared for traffic slowdowns, but I still think that even with traffic I-95 is the best way to go.

<<If you can leave by about 10 am or so the traffic won;t be as bad to and across the GWB and you can reach DC before dark.>>

How slow do you drive?

If you leave by 10 am and get to DC at 4 pm, you took a leisurely route with a lot of stops. The only time it ever took me 6 hours from DC to NYC was the ONE time I drove on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving (unavoidable) - something I would never do again. But if you're leaving THE WEEKEND BEFORE, you should be ok.

have to drive

why? do you absolutely need a car in Washington?

I do need a car as I will be moving my daughter and her belongings, not including her shutters, from DC to NY. Thank you for all the advice and helpful posts, including the English lesson, which I really do sincerely appreciate!

SS , marking your road map with a color marker would be better than to will it with the marker, and not sure if won;t is a word, but I thought the corrector needed correcting.

W,ell, I spent an hour waiting to cross the Delaware Memorial Bridge from the NJTP on a Friday between Thanksgiving and Christmas last year. I-295 merges there, and both were very backed up.

I noticed today that they have installed more EZ Pass lanes on both sides of the tollbooths, increasing capacity significantly. Perhaps that will reduce the backups.

Speaking of that, if you don't have EZ Pass, get it!