Travel from Lakewood to Baltimore... Rush hour traffic?

Purple Bee

Wed, Mar 08 2017, 1:39 pm

We're planning a trip to Baltimore...what's the traffic like? We'll leave Friday morning .. and return to Lakewood on Monday afternoon/evening. What times should we avoid? what areas of the route have worse traffic/rush hours? Please help us... we don't travel often!

sky

Wed, Mar 08 2017, 2:35 pm

We do this trip all the time - but I'm not sure what to advise.
The main places you can get stuck in traffic is in Delaware and the 695 (beltway in Baltimore).
While there are alternate routes to take to avoid the Delaware traffic its normally not worth it.
Even with traffic it typically doesn't add too much time to the trip - the trip typically takes 3 hrs. Even with normal traffic it rarely adds more than 1/2 hour.
Just follow the good rules of travel on Friday - leave double traveling time and bring candles, grape juice rolls and food just in case
One Friday we left exactly the same time as a good friend of ours. About 45 minutes from Baltimore they took a 15 minute stop to feed a baby. They ended up getting stuck immediately behind a major crash with no way to exit the highway and pulled in 5 minutes after candle lighting. We arrived with 3 1/2 hours to spare. There are just some things you can't predict or control.
Enjoy your trip.

doctorima

Wed, Mar 08 2017, 2:53 pm

If you leave in the morning after 10 (to avoid rush hour) you should be fine. Coming back, I would have advised waiting until about 7 to leave, to avoid any traffic. But now you say you want to be back by 6 or 7, in which case you will get traffic. If you can leave by 2, you should avoid the worst of it. Also download Waze on your phone, which can be great at knowing what issues may be up ahead and suggesting alternate routes to avoid them.

puredaughter

Wed, Mar 08 2017, 2:53 pm

Friday afternoons are very bad! What can normally be a 2 1/2 hour trip can be 5 hours on a friday afternoon - especially in the summer. Beware!!!