Discussion: Traffic and the US Champs

This relates to some of the discussion under the thread "More US Champs ride/hotel share," but I thought I'd start a new post so others might pick it up.

There have been some good suggestions by Eddie and Kissy in the other thread about ways to avoid traffic congestion, and I'm no expert on traffic in the area as I mainly metro everywhere.

However, I would suggest that everyone who is driving tune to WTOP 103.5 FM for constant traffic updates every 10 minutes on the 8s. Although it is sometimes hard to decipher everything they are telling you if you are not familiar with all of the roads, it's still one of the best ways to anticipate and deal with traffic problems in the area. Hopefully, you'll have a navigator riding shotgun who can look at a road map and tell you what's going on based on what WTOP says.

Good luck, and start early, there is a reason the DC area has the second worst traffic in the nation, although Saturday Morning should be OK. Friday, however, might be a different story.

I must weigh in again, as someone who lives right off I-95 in Stafford, about 15 mins. south of the park, and who has had to deal with that highway for the past 18 years. A word of warning...Saturday mornings tend to be bad from Springfield south to Quantico. Sunday afternoons are bad in the same stretch heading north. Actually Saturday afternoons are sometimes bad, too. Suffice to say, I-95 between Springfield and Quantico can be bad, bad, bad, predictably and unpredictably, so whatever you think your time *should* be to travel, add an hour just to be safe. Worst case (best case?) scenario, there will be no traffic, and you'll arrive early and stress-free.