14th street exit for L'enfant

I usually come into L'Enfant before 7:00 AM and it doesn't seem to take longer going via 14th - maybe the traffic hasn't backed up yet. I presume that drivers go that way so they don't have to cut across as many lanes of traffic to exit as you do staying on 395.

I used to work at the Department of Transportation and I got a lift in from a neighbor. We always took the Maine Avenue exit. At the stop sign at the top of the ramp, you hang a left, then at the next light (7th Street) you go left again. Always worked well and it was a lot faster than waiting at that stupid stop sign at the bottom of the ramp from the 12th Street exit or putting up with the 14th Street traffic; an added bonus for HOV lane users is that it's less of a frenzied dash across three lanes than it is to exit at 12th Street.

I've never understood the obsession of many local drivers with going up 14th Street. Half the folks at my office go that way. I never drive on 14th if I can avoid it--too many traffic lights.