🚀 go-pugleaf

Hey all...

I just started a job in College Park, MD working with the University of
Maryland. I live in Arlington, VA.  Usually I aim to get to work at
about 9:15am, and I'm usually just fine leaving at 8:30am.  In the
evening, I leave by about 6:30 or 7pm, pretty much after all the rush
hour traffic has subsided.

From Rosslyn, I've been taking Wilson Blvd. to VA-110 South to I-395
North over the 14th Street Bridge.  I've been taking I-395 from there to
its terminus at New York Avenue and 3rd Street, NW, and have been
following it up to Bladensburg Road (Alt. US 1) North, to South Dakota
Avenue, to Rhode Island Avenue, up into PG County.  Total time varies
between 30-45 minutes, depending on the bottlenecks.

But today I decided to take I-395 to I-295 to Pennsylvania Ave., SE. 
From there, I simply exited onto the Anacostia Freeway (DC 295)
northbound, took that to the BW Parkway, that to MD 410 West, and that
to US 1.  This took me about 25 minutes. Eureka!

That is, Eureka until I tried to find my way home... I decided to
backtrack my DC 295 route.  I fell into some nasty construction, and
couldn't get back to Pennsylvania Avenue inbound.  I eventually had to
do the I-295/Howard Road U-Turn to get back to I-395.

So, here are my questions:

- Which is really "the best" way (least congested, most direct,
quickest) to get to South College Park and back? Any suggestions?

- If I like the DC 295 route, what's the most efficient way to get back
to I-295 north from DC 295 south?

- Is there some magical route I should be taking out of Rosslyn to get
me through the traffic more quickly?

I have a feeling people will ask me the obvious question: Why can't I
take advantage of Metro? I mean, I can walk to the Rosslyn and Court
House stations and can take a shuttle-bus to work from the College Park
station.  At this time, I'm dependent on my car during business hours;
perhaps Metro will be a way to go in the future.  In the meantime, I'll
need to get my car from here to there...

Any suggestions?  Thanks in advance...

-- Mike
mike.scheinberg@iname.remove-this.com
(you know what to do...)