WASHINGTON 鈥� As the holiday shopping season reaches its apex, nobody鈥檚 looking forward to the crush of traffic in the roads leading to the area鈥檚 major malls, or even in their parking lots. But there are a few ways to minimize the hassle.
Jack Taylor, in 草莓传媒鈥檚 Traffic Center, said that the heaviest times for the malls will likely be during the average worker鈥檚 lunch hour, and during the afternoon rush hour, as people do some shopping on the way home. Any way you can dodge those hours will help your cause (and, for that matter, everyone else鈥檚).
Most of the area malls open at 10 a.m., Taylor said. 鈥淚f you鈥檝e got the first hour and a half before people usually get there 鈥� that would be a suggestion.鈥�
That gives you until roughly 11:30 a.m. before the lunch rush, and then from 1 p.m. to about 2:30 p.m.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e not going to be alone, obviously, but at least you鈥檒l have the ability鈥� to get in and out, Taylor said.
That 2:30 limit is kind of like Cinderella鈥檚 midnight, Taylor added: 鈥淵ou wouldn鈥檛 want to get into the nightmare of heading into an afternoon rush hour.鈥�
Asked whether he had any sneaky back-road routes to any of the malls, Taylor demurred 鈥� and suggested drivers do the same: 鈥淚f you do have back routes, I wouldn鈥檛 share them with anybody.鈥�
But really, it鈥檚 going to be at least a bit of a hassle no matter what, and Taylor suggests you just get ready for that.
鈥淛ust be as cautious as you can,鈥� he said.
He added that the traffic jams don鈥檛 stop when you get to the parking lot. 鈥淭he big thing we used to hear about were the fights for the parking spots,鈥� Taylor said,
He advised using your signals, and if someone beats you to a spot, 鈥済ive them a wave,鈥� Taylor said.
And just remember that getting into any kind of conflict is kind of tacky any time of year, but especially around Christmas.
鈥淕o in with the silver lining around your heart,鈥� Taylor said.
Tysons Corner Center
One shopping mall in the area is letting everyone know the best times and ways to go: Tysons Corner Center management said in a statement that you鈥檇 be best served by going before noon on Mondays through Thursdays, and getting your shopping done by Dec. 20. Area school systems will start letting out for winter vacations Dec. 21, so you can鈥檛 even count on the mornings being clear after that.
They advise going into Garage E from Westpark Drive, using the 495 Express Lanes 鈥� although they add that the Jones Branch Connector bridge will open Saturday, Dec. 15, crossing over I-495 from Virginia Route 123 and letting you off near the McLean Metro stop. (Of course, you could always just take Metro to the Tysons Corner stop, which leaves you with just a short walk.)
