July 4 Travel: When Should DC Drivers, Virginians Head Home?

WASHINGTON, DC — If you're heading back home after celebrating the Fourth of July at the shore, or out of state, the folks at AAA MidAtlantic have some good news and bad news about how the roadways are going to look.

The bad news is that, not surprisingly, the highways are going to be crowded with holiday traffic. The good news is that the worst travel day of the holiday period is behind us and, because of the extended holiday many people have taken, return traffic will be spread out more than "get out of town" traffic was.

"Since July Fourth was on a Wednesday this year, many Washingtonians took the remainder of the week off. After all, they have plenty of vacation days to burn," said AAA spokesman John B. Townsend II. "Some of us didn’t take any extra vacation. Yet many vacationers hailing from the area will return as the holiday weekend comes to an end. Compounding matters, we are already experiencing a noticeable increase in temporal traffic volume on Saturdays and Sundays on freeways in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.”

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The auto club does have a suggestion for which day to avoid in metro DC. Friday is bound to be the busiest day on the region's major freeways, AAA says, with delays increasing 50 percent overall and 150 percent on the busiest highways.

Traffic will be at its heaviest on Friday from 2 p.m.-8 p.m., the group says. The traffic peaks will be more varied on Saturday and Sunday, meaning you've got a better chance at finding clear roadways on those days. Sunday will be an especially busy travel time on the Bay Bridge as residents return from Maryland Eastern Shore and Delaware beaches.

To avoid long waits, the best times to return from the Eastern Shore via the Bay Bridge and the Severn River Bridge this weekend include: After 10 p.m., Friday, July 6; before 7 a.m. and after 5 p.m., Saturday, July 7; and before 10 a.m. and after 10 p.m., this Sunday, July 8.

Then, at varied times this weekend, on both Saturday and Sunday, as hundreds of thousands of holiday trippers navigate their way home. That includes along the southbound lanes of I-395, the southbound lanes and northbound lanes of Interstate 95, and along Interstate 66. The king of hot spots in northern Virginia is I-95 S at Exit 133 A to the Fairfax County Parkway. Other return trip hot spots include the Southeast Freeway and Key Bridge.

The Virginia Department of Transportation is also warning those heading home. Late-night returning travelers will encounter “overnight lane closures on eastbound I-66 between Sudley Road (Route 234 Business) and Route 29 in Centreville, July 6 and Saturday, July 7 between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m.,” VDOT has said.

According to the auto club, 46.9 million Americans were expected to travel more than 50 miles for Independence Day this year, more than a 5 percent increase over last year and the most since AAA started tracking holiday travel 18 years ago.

Six out of ten office workers took time off on both the Thursday and Friday after Independence Day, AAA says, but there is no exact science for the timing of return trips to everyday life after the holiday travel period. Return travel patterns will likely be spread out today through Sunday, especially along major routes and exit ramps on U.S. Route 50, Interstate 270, Interstate 95, and along the Inner Loop and Outer Loop of Interstate 495 (the Capital Beltway).

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