Thanksgiving travel
 

Hi- I need to drive from Philadelphia to the Richmond VA area on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I can't leave until about 12:30pm. Am I insane to be driving through the DC/Northern Virgina area on I-95 at that time of day? My plan is to get to Chester, VA by about 6pm. Any advice. Will I-95 be jammed? Thanks fo any insights.

Repost with a more specific title

I-95 will most definately be jammed not only in the D.c. area, but at the Baltimore tunnels.

Back in the mid '50s when I would drive from LI to visit friends in Chester, I would take 301 from DE down to Richmond to avoid both Baltimore and Richmond. I have no idea what the road conditions that way are now of course.

I would think that even if you took I-95 toward Baltimore and then headed toward 301, you would still face traffic delays in the Baltimore area.

ooops, that should have read to avoid both Baltimore and Washington.

It is insane to try to drive anywhere in northeast corridor Wednesday before Thanksgiving - if you are not insane before the trip, you will be after - unless you have far more patience and traffic-tolerance than I.

If you must leave then and must arrive Wednesday - my only words of encouragement are that it seems each year people leave earlier in the week for the holiday - so maybe many people will have already left.

In the past when I must drive for Thanksgiving, I either leave later on Wednesday (9 PM or so) or really early on Thanksgiving day.

We only did this route once (and once was MORE than enough)...Mark, I hope you have a nice thick head of hair because you will be tearing it out in chunks on that part of the drive. Traffic clogs, road ragers, people who race past jammed lanes of traffic to cut in at the top...everything you need to NOT get into the holiday spirit.

Can anyone tell me if driving south through Delaware and the Delmarva penninsula, crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is a viable route then?

Mark
Freetrip.com shows 361 miles 7:20 hrs using the Delmarva Penn.

Using 301 through Annapolis to Chester is 276 miles, 5 hours.

To get the figures I had to enter PH. to Salisbury, and Salsb to Chester.

and Ph to Queenstown, MD and Queens town to Chester.

I agree. Your best hope driving is Rt. 301 from DE to Richmond. Good luck - you'll need it. Don't leave a second later than 12:30 - earlier if you can. Is Amtrak not an option??

Thanks. I hadn't considered the 301 option, but that makes sense. It looks like it joins up with I95 north of Richmond. Does 301 have a lot of lights on it?

For some reason, whenever we drive from Boston to Savannah - a trip we make several times/year - we hit huge traffic jams around Richmond - no matter what time of day or day of week. So I would also be prepared with some alternate routes for that part of trip (if I had any good ones, I would have already used them!)

Woops, 2 posts, same question. Well, to continue -- you don't have to go through Richmond -- 301 will link up with I-295 and you can go around it to Chester. Pull out some maps now, ahead of time, and you'll see what people are suggesting. The Bay Bridge-Tunnel option is not great if you have a deadline, but it's kind of fun and a lot less hair-raising-pulling than the interstates.

As for point-to-point times, you have to figure that the I-95 option will take far, far longer than normal: imagine accordioning 5 MPH to 14 to 20 back to 14 back to 5 MPH for 100 miles or more. You'll age visibly.

Lights on 301: yes, between the intersection of 5 to the Waldorf-LaPlata area, but it's still worth it.

I just replied to your other post and now see that you're considering the Delmarva route.

It might be slower to take the Delmarva route (113 I think) but you might enjoy the peacefulness of it. We've used it coming up from Outer Banks to Annapolis (home) and it was a really nice ride.

Here's my other post too.

Hi

If you're headed south (as we often do) try taking Rt 3 south from Baltimore's 695. At Bowie Md it will become Rt 301 and you can follow that across the Potomac and connect back onto I-95 near Doswell or Fredricksburg. If you'll look at a map you'll see the route I'm describing.

There are more traffic lights in Waldorf but it is still a much easier drive than standing in traffic in I-95 around DC and Virginia's mixing bowl.

There are some major construction sites going on the beltway from Maryland into Virginia as well as a new bridge being constructed right next to the Wilson bridge too.

Have a safe trip