Commute from DC to La Plata (apartments, home, living)

[panther07]

I posted this on the NOVA board, but I thought i might be able to get a good answer over here too. My girlfriend recently accepted a job in Springfield, and she will be moving down in May when she graduates. I don't graduate until August, but have been given the opportunity to complete my final internship in La Plata, MD so that I can move down in May also. It will be much easier for her if I am there to split the rent. We have been looking at apartments for quite a while, and have decided to live in Alexandria, inside the beltway, to make her commute easier. I, on the other hand, would be driving from Alexandria to La Plata every day from May through August, while completing my internship. Once I graduate in August, I plan on taking a job much closer to where we are living.

So How long is the commute from Alexandria to La Plata? Is it tolerable for 3 months in the summer? Any insight is appreciated. Thanks

[fjennell]

traveling the opposite way you should be going against rush hour - 40 min. that's if you are traveling to la plata in the morning and back to alexandria in the evening.

[cool rob]

It is going to be long. Once you cross into MD, you still have a nice drive down 210, and then 228, and then 301. (however they are a few short cuts here and there along 210) However going in that direction in the morning might not be too bad traffic wise once you get over the bridge. However in the evening, anything around the bridge area has a tendency to get severly congested. Traffic usually lightens up during the summer months, but that is stll no guarantee of a stress free commute.
But once agin, once you take the bridge out of the equation, your good to go.

[trying2moveup]

Since you have a finite term of 3 months and it is during the summer (which is somewhat less congested around here on the roads. . . somewhat), I think you can do it. Anything can be done for 90 days. I would try my best, however, to leave as soon as possible on Fridays to get home b/c that is going to be the worst for you - going home on Fridays b/c a lot of MDs head to the beach on Fridays and take 495 to get to 50.