Originally Posted by monitor
And if you do go 75, keep an eye out for the VA gendarmerie who enforce 55MPH fanatically on that road (mostly gray Crown Vics with blue lights).
Not to be one to encourage reckless driving behavior but most people I've seen on my commutes to/from Reston drive 70 and up on the Toll Road. The Access Road is a different story - no one dares go above 65 - and police presence is rampant. On the Toll Road? Not so much.
I agree the on/off-ramps on the Toll Road are pretty nasty at rush hour, especially at Reston Parkway and 7100. Too little booths and way too many cars. Enough to make me wonder what all the tolls are being used for.
Originally Posted by wahooflyer
It's very true that for 2 or more people, the Toll Road/66 commute is faster before 9:30 a.m. than it is right after. HOV lanes work wonders in Northern Virginia!
I may be wrong but HOV on the Toll Road and 66E going into DC ends at 9am which means one should leave Reston by 8am to get HOV privileges all the way from Reston to DC with one exception (and it's a big one) - the main toll plaza to the 495 interchange which can be quite horrendous in morning rush hour. And if you time it wrong, arriving at the TR bridge into DC at 9am when HOV lifts will be an exercise in frustration. Things don't clear up till 10am. Outside the Beltway, it ends at 9:30am but the OP won't be travelling on that section. Isn't the discrepancy bizarre? I guess lots of ppl from Vienna/Fairfax/Manassas commute to Tysons or something.
Similarly, if you leave DC at 6:30 when HOV lifts on 66, it's almost always a 10mi backup from Rosslyn all the way to the spur that goes to the Toll Road. Leave at 6!
