OK, so I drove to the stadium for the first time on Saturday night. I normally take the Metro, but I've heard it's not that hard to drive so I thought I'd give it a shot. I live in Vienna, VA, by the way. I checked the SE website for directions. It says to take 395 to the 6th St exit, take a right on East Capitol St and follow the signs. That's it. 1) The directions didn't say anything about following somewhat confusing signs around a park but staying on East Capitol. That freaked me out a little. 2) The only sign I saw for the stadium was about 3 blocks from RFK with the stadium looming in my windshield. Not much help, there. 3) The sign said to take 17th street to Lot 8. I took the right on 17th and awaited another sign. No such luck. I got deep into SE, hoping and praying I'd see some other sign. I ended up turning around and going up 16th street, I think, and turning onto Independence, since that was headed into the general direction of RFK. Shortly, I saw Lot 8 and all was cool. What's the best way to get there? Do I take East Capitol to 17th to Independence? Is there some other way to go? Why do the signs on 395 say to stay to the left for RFK stadium when the exit onto 6th street is on the right? Please help me before Thursday! Thanks.
Follow the signs. Take 66 East to 110. Take 110 to 395. When 395 splits to the right, stay to the left on 295. Stay in the left lane. Penn Ave (I think) will exit to the right at the end of 295 but stay to the left, through the tunnel and you enter the back of Lot 8. Easy trip. Someone may correc tthe route numbers but the key is stay to the left, do not stay on 395.
Yup, that's it. Takes me about 35 minutes from Reston. Just make sure that you watch out for the morons who wait until the last second to take the Pa Ave. exit, or who don't realize that there's a large stadium parking lot after the overpass.
The 395 route is the easiest, fastest way to lot 8 from Va. . I have taken it for the last two matches and it works like a champ. I used to drive into town and catch Indep. Ave. and it sucked with all the lights. Like everyone said, stay in the far left lane. When you see the lane line turn solid don't freak out, your almost there.
Just to ensure you don't end up on 14th St. remember to bear RIGHT as you cross the 14th street bridge (the right 3 lanes stay as 395 - the left lane will dump you downtown). After that, you want to get as far left as possible and you'll be dropped right into Lot 8. I've been going that way for 7 years now.
Same here, but I have been taking that route much much longer to see soccer games, e.g. Brazil-Germany. To know if you are heading in the right direction just check the overhead signs. DC United signs appear in almost all of the signs directly over the left most lane (once you get close to the 12th street exit or the Capitol exit).
Just a couple more tips: 1.) The sign that directs you to the RFK exit is quite difficult to read, but the exit itself is unmissable, as it looks rather strange. If I recall correctly (and its been a while since I took this route), there are lots of those plastic reflector sticks between the exit and the main part of 395. And like Dave B. said, the lines turn solid white. 2.) Once you exit off 395, the road will suddenly look like someone's driveway and you will be surrounded by trees. This is good. Keep going. This is a very fast and easy route.
Yeah, basically just stay on the road like everyone has said, and make sure you don't get detoured (happened to me the first time I tried driving)...and it may seem like you're heading out into the middle of nowhere after a while, but the road ends right at the rear entrance to the parking lot (under a bridge) so just follow till you get there. Note that you won't be able to tell it's Lot 8 because you have to drive down the lane a bit to get to Lot 8, but you'll see the guys giving out parking passes.
This isn't true anymore, I don't think. The only good sign is around 12th street. The one immediately at the RFK exit is horrible and basically unreadable. (at least it was when I took this route for the LA game earlier this year). You probably haven't noticed the decline in signage because you know the route so well that you don't need the signs.
You may be right. I hardly look up except of course for the 12th street exit. I have to be specially careful to look out for those last minute drivers at the Pennsylvania Ave. exit. ps-One other tip. The last exit on 395 is Pennsylvania Ave. Do not take it. What you see to the left is a big tunnel (the overpass is Pennsylvania Ave.). After the tunnel go up a slight incline, parking money collectors will be waiting there for eveyone, you cannot miss them.
I'd sure as hell like to. I wouldn't feel as bad if I knew DCU was getting a cut. Was it me or was the Anacostia especially smelly Saturday night?
If you don't want to pay for parking you can also park on the nearby streets for free. Of course in order to do that you have to go through town a bit and not on the highways. I always take the metro myself, but my friends who drive never have any trouble parking on the street.