Tomorrow, I have to go pick up a friend from the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Whose Name Is Too Long. I’ve been this airport before, and I know how to get to it, but there’s a catch: with my friend’s scheduled arrival time, I’m looking at getting into D.C. proper at about 5:30 p.m.
I think you can see where the problem arises.
Any suggestions for what I might be able to do that involves neither sitting around for three hours in traffic, nor sitting around for that same three hours in an airport because I left way too early? I know that, driving into D.C. from various angles, I’ve observed Park & Ride metro stations along the highway, and I seem to recall that Reagan has its own stop (a quick Google check confirms this). Would it be worth my while to do it this way, and if so, which P&R would you recommend? If this would be logistically impractical for some reason, do you have any other thoughts?
It depends. What are you planning on doing? Are you staying in DC? Where else are you going? How far do you have to drive? Which direction are you coming from?
If she is coming in today (the 26th), it won’t be worth it. Traffic was very light. At one point on the GW Parkway, I was the only car around.
Actually, traffic tomorrow (Tuesday) will still probably be light - nothing like a normal rush hour in DC, so you should be okay no matter what route you take to get into DC from DCA (Hah! It’s still called that by the airlines).
The airport stop is on Metro’s Blue/Yellow lines (both run that way); don’t know what your destination is, though. The Blue line ends (now) at Largo I think - you could park & ride from there. Yellow line ends inside DC, but you can pick up the Green line there (Mt. Vernon Square/DC Convention Center) and ride out to Greenbelt, which has a fairly sizeable park & ride lot.
Seriously, though, many government employees are probably taking leave this week, it being the end of the leave year and many have “use or lose” leave – I think there’s only going to be 3-4 people in my office this week, come to think of it. Probably the only serious traffic you might run into (other than the obvious on the Beltway) will be around any shopping malls.
The Feds are off on the 26th, and virtually the schools are out - I would expect lighter than usual rushhour - really this whole week - tho Feds are back Tuesday. You obviously know D.C. so I am not saying light traffic - I am saying lighter than usual.
(Bad news corollary: I am as sure as I can be that National is going to be an absolute Zoo.)
Other than that – depending on brujo’s Q’s and really the type of friend and the length of the flight etc. Is possible for you to park some place neat – e.g. Alexandria? Union Station? Friendship Heights? Gallery Place? and take Metro to National – then you and your friend could have a night on the Town and drive out of teh City at 9, 10, 11, 1, 2 whenever … presumably after a really fun evening.
Ah, should’ve clarified all this from the beginning. For starters, we are indeed talking Tuesday the 27th. I won’t be staying; Roanoke is only a 4-hour drive from D.C. (up 81N to 64 to 95), so this is strictly a there-and-back. My friend is flying in from California, and he has his wife, his wife’s sister, and his nine-month-old son with him, so I don’t think a night on the town is in the picture, either.
If I believed for a moment that traffic would be light, I’d just hit the airport directly. However, I’ve been to D.C., and that ain’t happening if I can possibly avoid it. All I want to do is get to the airport as quickly as possible, as close as possible to my friend’s arrival time, and then get the heck out of NoVa posthaste.
In all honesty, I’m really just being picky, and if I have to sit around in traffic, then in traffic I will sit. I was just curious as to whether anybody had any tips for cool ways to get around driving through the heart of the Capital area at rush hour.
The OP’s location shows as Roanoke, so I’m guessing he’ll be coming up I-95 and never even touch DC. change from I-95 to I-395 at the mixing bowl and continue towards DC, then you’ll see signs for DCA (via US1, I think) as you approach the Pentagon. Getting in is easy. It’s getting back out that’ll be tricky.
If you decide to go that way, and you really want to try the Metro, you can exit at Vienna for the Vienna Metro station, on the Orange Line. Take that to Rosslyn, where you can switch to the Blue Line, which will take you to the Airport.
Coming up through 95 is a pain because of the Springfield Interchange. Then again, 66 might not be better. Coming in at 5:30, the majority of traffic will be heading from Dc to the suburbs so 66 might not be too bad. From 66, you can take 110 to the Route 1 which will take you to the airport. From there, there is an exit to the airport. On the way back, you can grab dinner somewhere in Arlington, while you wait for traffic to die down.
Right, which is another reason I was trying to take the Metro in from the outskirts. It’s all interstate from Roanoke to the airport, but I don’t know if that qualifies as “not touching D.C.”; it’s still right in the heart of the whole mess. Plus, that way, we can hop a train from the airport, take that to the car, and minimize the amount of brouhaha we have the deal with on the way home.
Now Dulles you can get to from the south without getting anywhere near the city; just hop over on 66 through Manassas. Figures he’d have to fly into the wrong one…grumble grumble
Seriously, though, if the general consensus is that it’s not gonna be that bad to get to the airport, I might just follow brujo’s suggestion and treat the crew to a leisurely dinner. What time does the rush generally end?
