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SUMMER GETAWAYS
As Washingtonians begin their summer travel season, here’s a look at some of their most popular routes, and some advice from local travelers and travel experts about how to stay safe and untroubled on your holiday roads.
DEEP CREEK LAKE
Classic route: Interstate 270 to I-70 west to I-68 west to Route 219 south (about 180 miles).
Alternatives: Between Frederick and Route 219, try portions of Route 144 and Alternate 40, which weave along with the interstates.
Much of that route is the historic National Road, gateway to the West during the nation’s early days, when travelers moved along it at 8 to 10 mph. Take it to enjoy a different drive to Western Maryland, rather than to save time.
40 68
Oakland
50
Deep Creek Lake
220
ALT. 40
219
Cumberland
68
219 Toll Gate House
a
50
WEST VIRGINIA
220
0 MILES 20
81
Classic route
Winchester
81
ALT. 40
144
522
Antietam Nat’l. Battlefield
340 15
Leesburg VIRGINIA
50 66
Alternative route
495
D.C.
495 95
MAPS BY GENE THORP/ THE WASHINGTON POST
50 270 95
c
Travel tips: Picking a route is only part of the job. Delays are most infl uenced by time of travel, weather conditions and incidents, says David Buck, spokesman for the Maryland State Highway Administration.
Avoid traveling during peak holiday travel times, have a map so you can have options on detours, stay patient and make driving a full-time responsibility, Buck says.
A bit of planning and car care (such as checking wiper fl uid, oil, gas, lights and tire pressure) goes a long way to avoiding extensive delays and frustration.
70
Hancock
40
81 70
Hagerstown
40
ALT.
40
PENNSYLVANIA
15
MARYLAND Frederick
70
Baltimore
83
BY MIKE DI PAOLA /BLOOMBERG NEWS
A view of Manhattan from the northern end of Governor’s Island in New York.
DR. GRIDLOCK
Robert Thomson
Patience required for travelers on
Pennsylvania Avenue
W
Dear Dr. Gridlock:
hat’s up with Pennsylvania Avenue SE construction between the Sousa Bridge and Branch Avenue? For three months,
the crews put up cones every day, cutting five lanes to two. Last weekend they installed jersey walls, making the closures a 24/7 experience. Yet the crews work only 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and despite having 20 men, little work is done. Tens of thousands of drivers commute on this road into the District and to Interstate 395 and the Anacostia Freeway. What are the goals of the project, and why are they lollygagging when they create so much disruption? When will they finish? It’s a daily nightmare. Separately, the biggest infrastructure issue in
that area is eastbound traffic using the Sousa Bridge to access the Anacostia Freeway north. These drivers have to queue up at a light to make a left turn across westbound Pennsylvania Avenue. The backup routinely extends to 14th Street SE on the avenue and a half-mile on the freeway. Any plans to build a flyover eastbound to the Anacostia Freeway north? That would help a lot more than the current project.
— George Brown,
The District
Two big road projects will have a dramatic
effect on Pennsylvania Avenue SE. The first, so noticeable to our letter writer, is one of the District’s Great Streets projects, designed to beautify and improve roadways. The Pennsylvania Avenue Great Streets project, a $30 million effort backed by federal stimulus money, will extend from east of the Sousa Bridge to the District line at Southern Avenue. It will be done in several phases over the next two years. Preliminary work between the bridge and
NORTHEAST CORRIDOR
Classic route: I-95 to I-295, across the Delaware Memorial Bridge to the New Jersey Turnpike to northern New Jersey approaches to New York (about 227 miles).
Alternatives: For the many who hate the tolls and congestion, consider I-95 to I-695 around Baltimore to I-83 to York and Harrisburg, Pa., then I-81 to I-78 to just before Allentown, Pa., then Route 22 to Route 33 to I-80 across the top of New Jersey.
BY GERRY BROOME/ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Bonner bridge spans the Oregon Inlet south of Nags Head, N.C.
OUTER BANKS
Classic route: I-95 south, to I-295 south, to I-64 east, to I-664, to I-64 to Route 168 south to Route.158 south to Kitty Hawk (about 270 miles).
Alternatives: After Fredericksburg, some I-95 drivers pick up Route 17 south at Exit 126 and take it to I-64 in
the Hampton Roads area. Others take the I-295 bypass around Richmond into the Petersburg area, then take Exit 50 to Route 460 east into Hampton Roads.
Tip: Friday afternoon traffi c south of the District can be stop-and-go to Fredericksburg. Throw in an accident or broken-down vehicle, and you can count on adding an hour or two to your trip, says Joan Morris, Virginia Department of Transportation spokeswoman.
The Sunday crawl — north and south — starts about noon and keeps building.
Heading out of town on a Friday, either leave by 11 a.m. or wait till after 8 p.m. Even better, head out between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. Saturday. Heading back into the Washington area on a Sunday, plan to arrive by noon and you’re much more likely to miss those massive delays, Morris said. Call 511 in Virginia for road reports.
270
D.C.
VA.
95 95 301 50
MARYLAND Cambridge MARYLAND
0
VA.
MILES
EASTERN SHORE
Classic route: Route 50 east to Ocean City (about 150 miles).
Alternative: There really isn’t a good highway alternative to the Ocean Gateway (Route 50). Around Wye Mills, Route 404 branches east from Route 50 and heads for Rehoboth Beach on the Delaware shore, but it’s narrow and crowded.
Along the Route 50 corridor, there are some short breaks, including Route 18, a scenic byway just east of the Bay Bridge, and Route 662 at Wye Mills. Approaching the shore, Route 90 (Ocean City Expressway) provides an alternative way into the city, at 62nd Street.
Travel tips: The HOV lanes on Route 50 are HOV all the time. The best Bay Bridge travel times on summer weekend getaways are Thursday before 2 p.m., Friday before noon and after 10.p.m., Saturday before 7 a.m. and between 5 and 10 p.m. and Sunday between 7 and 11 a.m. and after 10 p.m.
Maryland offers current traffi c information for the bridge at
www.baybridge.com.
Information about highway conditions statewide is available through Maryland’s CHART system, at
www.traffi
c.md.gov.
20
Salisbury
13
50
Ocean City
113 495 95 50 97
Dover
CHESAPEAKE BAY BRIDGE
Annapolis
662
Easton
301
Denton
404
13
DELAWARE
404
Georgetown
1
Delaware Bay
N.J.
Cape May
Rehoboth Beach
1
Bethany Beach
Or consider driving about 120 miles from the District to take the 80-minute ferry ride from Lewes, Del., to Cape May, N.J. Reservations recommended: 800-643-3779 or
www.capemaylewesferry.com.
Travel tips: The main bottleneck for many drivers from the Washington area is the I-95 toll plaza at Newark, Del.
Drivers this summer will see evidence of a breakthrough: The state is beginning to build high-speed E-ZPass lanes in the middle of the plaza, but travelers won’t be enjoying them until August of next year. Stay left to use the current E-ZPass lanes.
The Delaware Welcome Center, closed for reconstruction in September, is scheduled to reopen in phases starting this summer.
Branch Avenue ended early this month. Crews were working from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. to avoid disrupting rush hour traffic, said John Lisle, a spokesman for the District Department of Transportation. The first serious construction phase began
between 27th Street and Branch Avenue. Jersey barriers will separate the construction workers from traffic in this phase. The scheduled work hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, but travelers might not see the same number of workers during the same times each day. This portion of the work begins with the reconstruction of the roadway and sidewalk on the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue. The far-right eastbound lane and sidewalk are closed by the barriers. That requires a traffic shift. Drivers should add at least 15 minutes to their normal travel times through the work zone during rush hours. Three lanes will be open at all times. Over the course of the project, they won’t be the same lanes. Project manager Luan Tran wants drivers to be alert for the reversible lane that will ensure there are always two lanes for peak traffic during rush hours and one lane for traffic in the opposite direction. Drivers need to watch the overhead green arrows and red X’s to determine the correct lanes, he said. Traffic delays will probably be part of life throughout the project, although these first couple of weeks might be the worst, as drivers adjust or find alternative routes. After four to six months or so, the heavy work and the lane closing will extend farther east, out to Southern Avenue. Drivers will see the reversible lane extend out that way too. Lisle said travelers and residents can follow the progress online at
www.greatstreetspennave. com. They can also contact Tran at 202-671-4649, or visit the field office at 2410 Minnesota Ave. SE. Brown’s concern about left-turning traffic
from Pennsylvania to the Anacostia Freeway has been shared by a generation of commuters. A highway link is missing. The District’s 11th Street Bridge reconstruction project, scheduled to be done in 2013, should ease that situation considerably. Many of the drivers turning left have just gotten onto Pennsylvania Avenue from the Southeast- Southwest Freeway, which does not have a highway connection to the northbound Anacostia Freeway. The new spans rising between the old 11th Street Bridge spans will provide that link.
Dr. Gridlock also appears Thursday in Local Living. Comments and questions are welcome and may be used in a column, along with the writer’s name and home community. Personal responses are not always possible.
To contact Dr. Gridlock: By mail:Write to Dr. Gridlock at The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071. By
e-mail:
drgridlock@washpost.com. On the Get There blog:
blog.washingtonpost.com/getthere. On Twitter:
drgridlock.
SUNDAY,MAY 30, 2010
THE DAILY QUIZ
On what page of today’s Arts & Style section can you see a picture of Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl?
EARN 5 POINTS: Find the answer, then go
to
washingtonpost.com/postpoints and click on “Quizzes” to enter the correct response.
POINTS EVENTS
The Post Hunt is Back!
It’s almost time for another wild, wacky afternoon of brain-teasing puzzles in Washington, DC. The Post Hunt returns on June 6, from 12 noon until 4 p.m., rain or shine. It starts at Freedom Plaza, 14th Street and Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Get ready to think on your feet and win! Join a team or go it alone. You’ll find official rules, practice puzzles and videos of past hunts at
washingtonpost.com/posthunt.
POINTS & REWARDS
Maryland Renaissance Festival
Mark your calendars for summer fun close to home—the festival starts August 28 in Crownsville. See
rennfest.com.
Metropolitan Cooking
If you love to cook, see
metrocooking.com! Read about Food Network stars, collect recipes and sign up for the newsletter.
Pentagon Federal Credit Union
Open a savings account or apply for a Credit Union credit card online to earn PostPoints. See
penfed.org.
washingtonpost.com/postpoints
Not a PostPoints member yet?
Log onto
washingtonpost.com/postpoints for more information about this exciting free program.
A complete list of PostPoints Spots can be found at
washingtonpost.com/.
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