East Coast Bridge Restrictions.

Question

Hello all. My wife and I are planning a 3 week Thanks Giving trip down to Longs, SC to Willow Tree. We live in Bergen County, New Jersey. We travel with three Pugs that do not like distractions such as road checks, toll booths....in other words we like to get to our destination under the radar. We wanted to take the trip in 3-4 hour runs to make the trip less streeful. We originally planned to go from NJ to Cherry Hill DC, Then to CrossRoads in Roanoke Rapids NC then on to Willow Tree Longs SC and then reverse back home. I was told that somewhere before DC there is a Tunnel with propane restrictions. I would need to take 695???? towards the Key Bridge???? I figured maybe if this is a issue. I should just go the 7 hours straight to Roanoke Rapids, NC and avoid the whole DC propane issues. If I delete the trip to DC area are there any other roads to be aware of traveling straight down to NC???? Maybe I am making more out of the tunnel deversion than needs to be. Maybe it would be nice to go to Cherry Hill...never been. Can someone help me out with some route plans. I would rather break up the trip in smaller runs. Happy dogs, happy Wife HAPPY LIFE!!! Thanks so much.

roadpilot · Answer

You had good advice. Avoid the tunnel. It doesn't add too much time to the trip and you can still stop at Cherry Hill if you want. You'll love Willow Tree.

dahkota · Answer

The tunnels are in Baltimore. You have no choice but bypass it if you plan to take 95 to get from New Jersey to North Carolina. Whether you stop in DC or not doesn't make a difference.

The detour around the tunnels is simple and traffic is actually less. Take 695 towards Key Bridge back around to 95. There will be a toll. If you must avoid tolls altogether, take 695 west the other way around Baltimore. This will be longer and the road a little more congested, but you will avoid tolls.

To be honest, I wouldn't stop at Cherry Hill Park unless I planned to stay for a few days. You see nothing of DC there and it might as well be in New Jersey.

I would also try to time my trip so that you arrived at 695 after 10AM but before noon. This would put you in the area of Cherry Hill Park between 11AM and 1PM. If you arrive in the Cherry Hill Park area before 12PM, you might consider continuing past DC and stopping further south, around Fredericksburg. This will get you past the worst of the DC/VA traffic by 2PM, when it starts to get really bad.

ford_truck_guy · Answer

That's a tough area to be in.... Your timing is such that if you decide to miss Cherry Hill.... from where your leaving from you will have a longer first day... From the Philly area , we take 95 to 896 to 301 back onto 95 just north of Richmond.. that takes us 6 hrs...at that point you have Kings Dominion Campground or the Ashland KOA-Amerikamps.....Both within 15 minutes upon returning to 95...kike stated... Cherry Hill is nice.. to visit the city , not a stopover night in my opinion..

crowe · Answer

I think Cherry Hill is a great stopover place.  Have done it many times on my way down to the Carolinas.  If you get there on Saturday, you are on the beltway around DC on a Sunday morning, when there's rarely traffic.  It's a bit pricey but clean, safe, well-run, and relatively easy access.  However, DO NOT FOLLOW A GPS TO GET BACK ONTO 95!  Go out the same way you came in.  An experience I NEVER want to repeat!

esyers · Answer

We're in Union County NJ and use Roanoke Rapids as our first stop whenever we head South.  We pick up 301 in Delaware and follow that to just north of Richmond to avoid Baltimore and Washington.  There are traffic lights, but with EZ Pass, you don't slow down for tolls.  Send me a pm if you want any details.

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