July 4 Travel: When Should Marylanders Drive Home?

BALTIMORE, MD — If you're heading back home after celebrating the Fourth of July at the Eastern Shore, or out of state, the folks at AAA MidAtlanic 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.

"Like Christmas, the Fourth of July always occurs on different days of the week, and as a result, travel patterns will vary depending upon, of course, the day or days after the holiday," said AAA spokesman John B. Townsend II. "Since July Fourth was on a Wednesday this year, many ... took the remainder of the week off."

(For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here.)

The auto club does have a suggestion for which day to avoid in Maryland. Friday is bound to be the busiest day on the Baltimore-Washington 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 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.

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.

The worst day to travel in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., area this holiday season was Tuesday, especially from 4-6 p.m., when holiday travelers and commuters heading home from work clogged the roads at the same time. During that period, traffic was expected to be 160 percent heavier than normal.

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).

Image via Shutterstock