Published October 10, 2026
Nobody publishes a neighborhood-by-neighborhood drive-time dataset for the run from Richmond south toward Petersburg, Hopewell and the Army installation near them, so this guide does not pretend to have one. Instead, every pick is tied to a road, an interchange number or a named place that a public source lists, and you can check each one on a map before you tour a house. The five areas are in alphabetical order, not ranked. We make no price claims here: for current numbers, use the Mission Realty property search.
The name question, and the exits that matter
The installation southwest of Petersburg has carried two names in recent years. The Army’s own garrison site now reads “U.S. Army Garrison Fort Lee,” and the old Fort Gregg-Adams web address on that site forwards to it, so this guide uses Fort Lee. Some older pages, including a few of ours, still use the earlier name. The same Army visitor information page lists the driving directions we rely on: leave I-95 at exit 54, Temple Avenue, and follow it toward Route 36 (Oaklawn Boulevard), or leave I-295 at exit 9B onto Route 36. It also lists the Sisisky Boulevard gate as always open, and puts the Visitor Control Center next to the Gregg Avenue gate along Route 36.
The Virginia Department of Transportation exit list fills in the rest. On I-95 it shows exit 73 as Maury Street and exit 69 as Bells Road, both in Richmond, then exit 62 as Route 288 and exit 61 as Route 10 in Chesterfield County, exit 58 as Route 620, and exit 54 as Temple Avenue in Colonial Heights. I-295 begins at I-95 in Prince George County just south of Petersburg, with exit 9 at Route 36 and exit 15 at Route 10 in Chesterfield. Because VDOT numbers exits by the nearest mile marker, the gap between two exit numbers is a fair measure of interstate miles. It leaves out the surface streets at each end, so treat it as a floor, not a drive time.
Five areas at a glance
The table below uses only those published exit numbers. “Exits to 54” is the difference between each area’s likely I-95 entry and the Temple Avenue exit the Army directs visitors to. Which entry ramp is closest to a given street is something to confirm on a map.
| Area | I-95 exit (VDOT) | Exits to 54 |
|---|---|---|
| Chester | 61, Route 10 | 7 |
| Ettrick | 54, Temple Avenue | 0 |
| Hallsley | 62, Route 288 | 8 |
| Manchester | 69, Bells Road, or 73, Maury Street | 15 or 19 |
| Woodlake | 62, Route 288 | 8 |
Want these five areas on a saved search?
Because no one publishes neighborhood commute times, the practical test is to see the active homes in Chester, Ettrick, Hallsley, Manchester and Woodlake and then drive the route yourself at your real commute hour. Set up a saved search covering all five and new listings come to you.
Chester: the Route 10 interchange town
Chester sits in northeastern Chesterfield County between Richmond and the Tri-Cities, and VDOT lists both I-95 exit 61 and I-295 exit 15 at Route 10, so it offers a choice of interstates. Our Chester living guide describes an old railroad village around Chester Village Green, with Route 10 as a busy commercial arterial. The county’s transportation projects page lists the Chester Linear Trail and a Chester Village Drive sidewalk project, plus interchange work at I-95 and Route 10. Check each project’s status with the county before you count on it.
Mission Realty has no Chester community page yet, so start from the Chesterfield County hub and the two nearest neighbors that do have pages, Chesterfield and Ettrick.
Wrong for: buyers who want a quiet road network. Route 10 is the commercial spine, and the I-95 and Route 10 interchange work on the county’s list means the picture may change.
Ettrick: the Temple Avenue neighbor
The Ettrick community page describes a historic community near the campus of Virginia State University. The university’s directions page tells drivers to follow I-95 south to Petersburg and take the Temple Avenue exit, and the Army uses the same exit 54 for its own directions. The county’s transportation page also names the Ettrick train station and the Ettrick-Matoaca Library, two anchors you can look up. The university describes its campus as about 20 miles south of Richmond via I-95.
Wrong for: a household where one driver still commutes to downtown Richmond every day. On exit numbers Ettrick is the shortest ride to Fort Lee, and the longest back toward the city.
Hallsley: Midlothian on the Route 288 side
Our Hallsley guide places the community in the Woolridge Road and Old Hundred Road corridor of Midlothian, close to Route 288, and the Hallsley community page lists the sections and builders. VDOT puts Route 288 at I-95 exit 62, so a Fort Lee commute here is a run to that exit and then about eight interstate miles to exit 54. Our Route 288 corridor roundup covers the road itself.
Wrong for: a household whose only commute is to Fort Lee. Hallsley is a Midlothian address first, and you add the run to exit 62 before the interstate miles start.
Manchester: the south side of the James
The Manchester community page sits within the City of Richmond, on the south bank of the James River. VDOT lists I-95 exit 73 as Maury Street and exit 69 as Bells Road, both in Richmond, so which ramp serves your street is the first thing to check on a map. Either way you are looking at 15 to 19 interstate miles to the Army’s exit 54, the longest on this list, and the exit numbers do not include the in-town driving at the start.
Wrong for: buyers who want the shortest run to the gate. Manchester suits a household where one driver works in the city and the other heads south less often.
Woodlake: the Swift Creek Reservoir pick
Our Woodlake guide says access is via Hull Street Road, Old Hundred Road and Route 288, and it describes Hull Street Road as the main commercial and commuting artery on that side of the county. The Woodlake community page covers the villages and the mandatory association. As with Hallsley, Route 288 meets I-95 at exit 62, about eight interstate miles from the Army’s exit.
Wrong for: buyers who cannot tolerate peak-hour Hull Street Road. The corridor is the trade you make for the amenities.
Hopewell, Petersburg and Colonial Heights
We have no community pages for Hopewell, Petersburg or Colonial Heights, so this guide does not rank them. Our guides to Colonial Heights and Prince George County are the closest we have. For a wider list of towns, see our small-town commuter guide, and for the opposite direction, our north-bound commute guide.
How to test the commute before you buy
Pick the interchange nearest the house, then drive from it to the gate or office at the hour you would really leave, on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Drive the return trip too. Before you tour, run your payment on the mortgage calculator and talk with one of our preferred lenders, and read our buyer process page so the steps are clear.
Start a saved search for these five areas
One search covering Chester, Ettrick, Hallsley, Manchester and Woodlake means you see new listings as they appear and can drive each route yourself. It takes a few minutes to set up.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to be military to buy a home near Fort Lee?
No. Buying a home in Chesterfield County, Colonial Heights or Petersburg has no military requirement. Gate access is a separate matter: the Army says new visitors can request installation access through its Automated Installation Entry website before coming, and the Visitor Control Center is open daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., except holidays.
Which gate would a resident of these areas use?
That depends on your credentials and where on post you are going. The Army page read in October 2026 lists the Sisisky Boulevard gate and Valor Circle as always open, with other gates on weekday or limited weekend hours. Gate hours change, so check the Army page and its PDF gate map before you plan a daily route.
If one of us works in Richmond and one at Fort Lee, where is the middle?
On the exit numbers, I-95 exit 61 at Route 10 is 12 numbers south of Maury Street at exit 73 and 7 north of Temple Avenue at exit 54. That makes Chester and the Route 288 side near exit 62 the closest to even on interstate miles. Surface streets at each end change the real split, so test both drives.
Is I-295 a realistic alternative to I-95?
It is a listed one. VDOT says I-295 begins at I-95 just south of Petersburg and has an exit at Route 10 in Chesterfield (exit 15) and at Route 36 (exit 9), and the Army’s own directions send I-295 traffic to Route 36 at exit 9B. Which is faster depends on the hour and on your starting point, so test both.
Will road projects change these commutes?
They could. Chesterfield’s transportation projects page lists I-95 and Route 10 interchange improvements, auxiliary lanes on I-95 between Route 288 and Route 10, and Route 10 widening and weave work. We did not verify construction dates, so check the county and VDOT for current status.
Why is Ettrick shown at zero exits from the Army exit?
Because the Army’s directions and Virginia State University’s directions both use I-95 exit 54 at Temple Avenue, and Ettrick is the community beside the university. We did not find a published source for which ramp serves any single Ettrick street, so confirm on a map.
Why is Hopewell not one of the picks?
Mission Realty has no Hopewell community page, and we would not rank an area we cannot tie to a source we read. If Hopewell is on your list, search it directly on our property search, and read our Colonial Heights and Prince George County guides for the neighboring towns.
How is this list ordered?
Alphabetically. There is no neighborhood-level drive-time data for this corridor, so any ranking would be arbitrary. The table of exit numbers is the closest thing to an objective comparison.
