Commute Advice - West EC to Aberdeen

[fabsroman]

I have rarely had to make this commute. Only done it a couple of times for Court in Belair and I just left rather early those times. My wife has to make the commute for two weeks and needs to be at work from 9 to 5 in Aberdeen.

My advice was going to be I-70 to I-695 toward Glen Burnie and then jump on I-95 north and take the tunnel through the harbor. We are right at the intersection of 32 and I-70. Is there a better way for her to go? I am assuming that traffic on the inner loop of the beltway in the Towson area will be painful at rush hour in the morning and the outer loop will be the same in the evening. If that assumption is incorrect, then she could just take the beltway toward Towson and hit I-95 north after Towson and avoid the harbor tunnel.

 

[adit]

I'd go the other way. The tunnel(s) can be a disaster. And whenever you can avoid MdTA Police it's is a bonus.

Again this advice is worthless right now without knowing the traffic report for that morning.

I'm in East EC...

 

[GrimReaper]

Inner loop traffic usually isn't bad in the morning(at least on the north side) , outer loop is a nightmare. inner loop backs up a little at 95, Once you are on 95n you should be good because most people are going south.

 

[lilpenny]

I would go through the tunnel, the beltway is going to be a mess. I live an exit up from you (97 and old Frederick) and I always take the tunnel when going to Belair and points north.

 

[fabsroman]

I would go through the tunnel, the beltway is going to be a mess. I live an exit up from you (97 and old Frederick) and I always take the tunnel when going to Belair and points north.

Thanks

I just ran the directions through mapquest and that is the best route it is giving me. She drove to Towson last week for a 8:30 am interview and the drive to Towson took over an hour during rush hour and she complained the entire afternoon about it. Ended up factoring into her final job decision too.

Hoping 95 north between the southern side of the beltway and the tunnel is how I remember it from 12+ years ago when I used to commute to Baltimore. Seemed to be very little traffic coming north on I-95 into Baltimore.

I was hoping to find some road that left here, headed north, and then headed east to I-95, hitting I-95 just north of the beltway, but that looks like it will be a complete disaster. Looks like she is going to have to suck it up for two weeks and deal with the interstate and rush hour traffic, and then the commute gets back to something more reasonable.

The older she and I get, the more we hate driving.

 

[Squaregrouper]

Inner loop traffic usually isn't bad in the morning(at least on the north side) , outer loop is a nightmare. inner loop backs up a little at 95, Once you are on 95n you should be good because most people are going south.

Agreed.

Fabrosman- When she hits 695 until Frederick Rd (~5 miles) she will be in a parking lot. I can assure this will be the case at least 3x a week.
I drive from Pikesville (Near 695 and 795) to Wilkens Ave and that stretch of 695 blows in the morning.

 

[fabsroman]

Agreed.

Fabrosman- When she hits 695 until Frederick Rd (~5 miles) she will be in a parking lot. I can assure this will be the case at least 3x a week.
I drive from Pikesville (Near 695 and 795) to Wilkens Ave and that stretch of 695 blows in the morning.

She will be getting onto 695 just north of Frederick Road/144 if she takes I-70. We actually live in a development right off of Frederick Road/144 in the Ellicott City area, so she could take 144 all the way to 695 if this would be smoother for her. She is somewhat familiar with that drive to the beltway. I know the outer loop of the beltway loses a lane after the I-70 exit, and I think it is right where the route 40 exit is. She could take route 40 to the beltway too.

So, would 144 to I-695 toward Glen Burnie, or 40 to I-695 toward Glen Burnie be a better bet than I-70 to I-695 toward Glen Burnie? The goal being to get onto I-95 north and take the tunnel through the city.

 

[adit]

And don't forget the Frederick Rd bridge @ 695 is under construction.

That's why I said to take 695N thru Towson.

Again, it's all hit or miss til you check the morning traffic.

 

[Threeband]

144 or 40 would be horrible. 70 will get you to 695 quickly, even with the slowdown that starts around Marriottsville.

I would expect the inner loop past Towson to be better in the morning.

She should try both ways. Seriously, have her try both, then come back and tell us.

 

[Sundazes]

Double whatever map quest says for the time. Better get there early then stress about being late. Traffic on the beltway on loop either is a crap shoot during both rush hours. It just plain sucks.
I would second the Towson route. The south route to 95 will be a parking lot. then you have to deal with 95 north going into the city. I would avoid that.

 

[fabsroman]

144 or 40 would be horrible. 70 will get you to 695 quickly, even with the slowdown that starts around Marriottsville.

I would expect the inner loop past Towson to be better in the morning.

She should try both ways. Seriously, have her try both, then come back and tell us.

She already drove to Towson one morning last week during rush hour and complained about that for several days. She was offered the job in Towson and turned it down, and traffic was a big reason for it.

I'll have her do the 695 toward Glen Burnie route once. Hell, I might try it myself on Monday and see just how bad it is. Maybe take that route and then just come back home on the outer loop of 695. Ten days in Aberdeen and then traffic is no longer a worry once again. Should have moved further away from any beltway. When Frederick starts to build a beltway, I am leaving the state.

 

[Threeband]

Maybe take that route and then just come back home on the outer loop of 695.

Evening will be the opposite of morning. If the Outer Loop is worse in the morning, the Inner will be worse in the evening, very roughly speaking.

If she thought the IL to Towson was bad, wait till she takes the OL to 95!

Every day a crap shoot, as was said. Have her alternate on different days.

 

[T-Man]

70 to 695 to the tunnel is your best bet. There will be back up on 695, but past Towson is way, way worse. I come from catonsville and travel to Harford county on a regular basis.

 

[fabsroman]

Evening will be the opposite of morning. If the Outer Loop is worse in the morning, the Inner will be worse in the evening, very roughly speaking.

If she thought the IL to Towson was bad, wait till she takes the OL to 95!

Every day a crap shoot, as was said. Have her alternate on different days.

I'm talking about me making a portion of the drive Monday morning and then coming back home on the outerloop so I can see what the inner loop to Towson looks like.

She has another week until she has to make this drive, so I could do a test run on the traffic portion of it. Once she gets into the tunnel, I am guessing that traffic on 95 north leaving the city will be rather non-existent. Doubt many people are driving from the city to White Marsh, Bel Air, and Aberdeen for work.

 

[SVrider]

I used to drive from Howard County to Aberdeen Proving Grounds for work hours of ~7am-330. I took the inner loop past towson to 95N every day. Wasn't bad. Granted i was driving past towson ~615am so a little less traffic than at 8am.

 

[Threeband]

Okay, I see. You're talking about driving past Towson then turning around and coming right back.
Who said the spirit of adventure was dead!

It occurs to me you could study the traffic cameras on several days and get a pretty fair idea.

 

[fabsroman]

I used to drive from Howard County to Aberdeen Proving Grounds for work hours of ~7am-330. I took the inner loop past towson to 95N every day. Wasn't bad. Granted i was driving past towson ~615am so a little less traffic than at 8am.

She will be working 9 to 5 at a retail place in Aberdeen, so no flex hours. Worst case scenario, she is just going to have to suck it up for 2 weeks and deal with this, but I am trying to ease the pain.

Happy wife, happy life. At least that has been my experience.

 

[fabsroman]

Okay, I see. You're talking about circumnavigating the Beltway in rush hour just to see what the different sections are like.
Who said the spirit of adventure was dead!

It occurs to me you could study the traffic cameras on several days and get a pretty fair idea.

One of the associates I used to carpool into Baltimore with about 14 years ago used to look at the traffic cameras back then on the internet before we would leave the office. Always figured we might as well just get more billables in versus sitting in traffic. Sadly, I have yet to even use that internet ability. Hope my google fu can find these mystical cameras. lol

Edit to add: And thanks for the traffic camera advice. Not that I don't appreciate everything else, but that is a new twist. Figured I would just get opinions from those that do the drive via this thread, but looking at the traffic cameras might be very helpful. Might show them to my wife too and let her decide which way to go. That way, I'm not the bad guy as she wonders if the other way would have been better.

 

[fabsroman]

http://www.chart.state.md.us/travinfo/trafficcams.php

Time to see what they will show me.

 

[Threeband]

Here are the mystical cameras!

Hours of viewing pleasure, cancel your cable!

http://www.chart.state.md.us/travinfo/trafficcams.php



(Hey, your Google-fu isn't so bad.)