Traveling Rt. 95 South - Beltways

[Paul127]

Hello,

I'm traveling in a 40ft. motorhome with a cargo trailer in tow, which direction am I better off taking around the two beltways?

Baltimore & Washington

[Veebyes]

What Ford truck guy says. From the Wilmington area take 301 south & avoid the whole Baltimore Washington area completely. No charge on the Bay Bridge going west.

We are based on the Chesapeake Eastern Shore so we are familiar with the area.

Once across the Potomac 301 is a really nice road all the way down. The few lights alnog the way are nothing to the traffic & stress of 95. Those beltways are no fun at all except maybe on a Sunday.

[ford_truck_guy]

I was an avid user of 301... No matter the time , I would take 301,.. With a lot of the MESS gone on 95 , I now find myself taking it more and more depending on the time of day... Just last week I left Northeast Philly at 9:30 am... Went right down 95 all the way to Richmond and was there in 4-1/2 hrs...
With that said , with a a coach that has propane , you will need to do the beltway around Baltimore as you already know...I also prefer 695 east over the Key Bridge...

I now find that the hardest part of 95 is just south of DC.. Around the Alexandria , Manassas area and a bit more south...

[JimFromJersey]

Paul127 wrote:
Hello,

I'm traveling in a 40ft. motorhome with a cargo trailer in tow, which direction am I better off taking around the two beltways?

Baltimore & Washington

IF you're wedded to the beltway for some reason, the "clockwise" route is best, if you follow my drift. Picturing I-95 coming south from Balto, at about 2PM, the southern/eastern loop down to about 7PM is faster and somewhat quicker than the 'counter-clockwise' route up and over towards the northwest.

However, as has been noted here and elsewhere, avoiding the area altogether is usually recommended - study US 301 south through the Delmarva, or even US 13/113 south through Delaware to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel to Norfolk and then out to Emporia to hook up with I-95 again.

There are options.

[Bumpyroad]

lots of folks prefer to drop down 301 to avoid the DC I-95 mess.
bumpy

[Paul127]

Rt. 95E it is.

Thank you,

[dahkota]

East around both. You want to cross the Key Bridge around Baltimore rather than taking either tunnel (propane restrictions). East around the DC beltway (follow 95S signs) to avoid the worst traffic (Montgomery County). You may hit traffic in Northern VA after the beltway 'reconnects' to 95S between Springfield and Quantico.