Traffic around New York

“Hey I am planning a trip up to Bridgewater Maine the end of August. I was wandering how is the traffic around New York City. I have done a lot of traveling out west and up north but never on the east coast. I will be going through Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. I ain't much for driving in a soup bowl and was wandering if it would be better to take I 78 out of Harrisburg Pa. and then back over to I 95 north of N.Y. to miss all of these cities. Also how is I 95 through Boston. I was sitting here pouring over a map and it occured to me I have wealth of knowledge at my fingerrtips through friends on trail talk.

Thanks in advance

BAMA”

“You could take I-78 to Rt-287 North to NY-87 North than head East......

All depends which way you are coming from.”

“if it were me i would avoid 95 as much as possible. the trip i would suggest would be to take 59 out of alabama (unless you are in the far southeast section, then take 85 to charlotte, nc) and work your way up to 81 in southwest virginia. take 81 from the mount rogers, va area to binghamton (bing-um-ton), ny. take 88 from binghamton to albany, ny. take 87 to glens falls, ny and then get off the interstate for a while. take route 4 out of glens falls and head through rutland,vt and over to lebanon, nh. from there you can use 4, 104, 25 and 16 to get you to the conway/north conway area. this is approx. midway on the on the north/south nh-maine border. i don't know where bridgwater is but you can work your way to 495 and 95 in maine pretty easy from there.
this would allow you a much more scenic drive than 95. also much less traffic (soup bowl). 95 is a continous traffic jam from richmond to baltimore and then again in the ny city area to boston. 81 will keep you west of this and the drive across upstate ny, vt and nh is absolutely awesome. you won't see anything like it if you take 95. you can even go to the baseball hall of fame (cooperstown is off of 88 near albany).

this is just my opinion on the matter. i have driven the entire route from chattanooga north (not at one time) as well as every inch of 95 from miami to the maine border and it would be a no brainer for me. anything but 95.

it must be early, i am repeating myself. (95 sucks)”

“avoid the big cities, traffic can flare up around smaller cities like harrisburg during rush hour.”

“BAMA - so long as you're not passing through NY during rush hour, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. It's really not that bad at all during off-peak hours, people rely on public transportation much more here than other cities.

I've traveled I-95 through Boston on quite a few occasions, both during rush hour and off peak. Rush hours were pretty congested, but still not pull out your nails crazy.”

“it definitely depends on what time of day you'll be coming through the cities. it's a long way, so i don't really know how you could miss rush hour in at least one place...but we took roads west of 95 on our way up to the White Mts. from DC (and the same route back), and i swear it took about twice as long as 95 would have. seing different, smaller towns and countryside was nice on the way up, but on the way back, we just wanted to get home, and the scenery in NY and PA looked really bleak to us in comparison to NH. and WHATEVER YOU DO, don't come through DC during rush hour!! we have the worst traffic in America, i swear.”

“lyra has obviously never been at the intersection of I-40 and I-240 in Memphis at 4:30 PM

It is easy for me to understand how people go postal on the side of the highway every time I come through there.”

“not that i am "obsessed," or "need confirmation" that our traffic suuuuuuucks, but we're actually #3, after LA and SF.

you're right chili, bad moods are totally catching...i find myself doing the absolute pissiest things when i'm driving! usually i'm as laid-back as can be...i need to get the hell out of here before i go permanently postal, LOL! at least i get to take the metro to work...”

“About New York.. my previous message was a bit on the optimistic side. It's true what I said before, but I'd like to add that there are pretty bad traffic back-ups at any given time. A lot of the times the reasons for them aren't apparent at all. It's just a matter of bad luck if you hit one.”

“no, MY traffic is worse!

hehehehehe!

;-)”

“sorry but New Yorks traffic is the Worst!!
Stay Away!!!!!! go around if you can.”

“BAMA: As a New England Yanqui, I can tell you there is no reason to go through Boston or to take I-95 (unless y'all want to drop into town, and if you do - y'all are most welcome).

I suggest you get directions from www.mapquest.com which usually gives you a good route through the NYC metro area which involves taking Rt. 15 through Connecticut. Rt. 15 is a beautiful road which runs parallel to I-95. Traffic is almost always light (although an accident seems to tie it up worse than it does for alternate routes).

There is also no reason to mess with the minor routes in NH, like Rt. 16 cuzz y'all are heading WTF up north and you'lll be spending a heck of a long time on I-95 in Maine. The closest I've come to Bridgewater was driving down Rt. 2 in New Brunswick, just across the Canadian Border.”

“Just to double check, I looked up the directions from Charlotte and the route they give you through the NYC area should help you avoid bad traffic as long as you don't get there during rush hour.

This link oughta get you to the directions: http://www.mapquest.com/directions/main.adp?go=1&do=nw&ct=NA&1ah=&1a=&1p=&1c=Charlotte&1s=NC&1z=&1y=US&2ah=&2a=&2p=&2c=Bridgewater&2s=ME&2z=&2y=US&lr=2&x=49&y=13”

“Thanks to all, I knew someone would be able to help out a country boy. Round here if you approach an intersection and a car is coming, just wait, chances are there ain't another one behind it. I had used maponus.com and it gave me a route through Ohio. I knew there had to be something better.
Pedxing thanks for the link it looks much better than mapsonus.
Thanks again,

BAMA”

“Try going past all the major cities at night. Last time I went I had my 19 year son drive us (from MD to Providence RI) at night. I fell asleep around mid NJ and woke up around the RI border. Best trip I ever had. Of course we had a van that fit everybody in reasonable comfort.

PS he is availible for a reasonable fee!”

“1 I95 south of dc has two problems you need to consider.
first off any construction will jam the corridor and leave you standing still for several hours and secondly VA police love to run traps in htis area.

to avoid the mess either take 301 out of richmond to baltimore or take us 1 to dc. MD police love speeders and tend to be more espensive. VT is also hard on the pocket book.

Usually I try to work my schedual out so I'm between cities during rush hours or just simply go eat.”

“Did anyone ever see the Saturday Night Live gameshow skit where contestants were asked to give directions from one place in NYC to another. If I recall, Adam Sandler and Phil Hartman were two of the contestants. LOL”

“Have a good trip Bama!! Be safe!!”

“Wow, Bridgewater is up there in Maine, just south or Caribou. I was up in that area in 98' at a 3-day Phish concert...The Great Went.

Watch out for moose while driving, there are moose crossing signs everywhere up there, and for a good reason.

I'd take NJ78 > 91 > 84”

“Sounds as if the 78 route to 287 around N.Y. is the most popular. I would like to go through Rhode Island, just to say I did. My longterm goal is to see all 50 states. Is 95 along the coast in Connecticut to Boston worth the trouble? Or is it bumper to bumper. I know someone has thought "what is a country boy from north/west Alabama doing going to Bridge Water Maine. I have booked a bear hunt with an outfitter up there. I have done a lot of traveling hunting out west and decided I would see the New England states for a change. Oh no, hope I didn't open a hunt no hunt debate. I do hunt and no I don't drive around with the carcess on the hood. And yes, I plan on doing some hiking while there. I hope to go over into Canada for a spell also.

Happy Trails,

BAMA”

“O by the way I won't be around for a day or so. I'm going to see the Eagles in Concert in Bham tomorrow.

BAMA”

“Sorry my link stretched out the thread.

Bama: I-95 traffic can get bunched up almost any time of day in Western Connecticut. Its been a while since I've taken it through R.I., but I don't think it will be too bad if you avoid the high traffic times.

If you do take I-95 through R.I., it will probably pay to take I-93 straight through Boston and then pick up I-95 again North of Boston. The traffic can get bad taking the I-93 "short cut," but when it is bad, the I-95/128 loop is just as bad.

If you've got the time and haven't been through Vermont, it wouldn't cost you much time to pick a route through Vermont on the way back.”

“Sorry my link stretched out the thread.

Bama: I-95 traffic can get bunched up almost any time of day in Western Connecticut. Its been a while since I've taken it through R.I., but I don't think it will be too bad if you avoid the high traffic times.

If you do take I-95 through R.I., it will probably pay to take I-93 straight through Boston and then pick up I-95 again North of Boston. The traffic can get bad taking the I-93 "short cut," but when it is bad, the I-95/128 loop is just as bad.

If you've got the time and haven't been through Vermont, it wouldn't cost you much time to pick a route through Vermont on the way back.”

“Thanks all, I plan on doing the east coast thing as to your recomendations and then come back through N.H. and Vt.


BAMA”

“If you get through Washington after the morning rush you should get through Connecticut before the evening rush. Ft McHenry tunnel through Baltimore over the Delaware Memorial Bridge. New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway to 287. From there you can choose either 95 or the Merritt Parkway (15) depending on how the traffic looks and the time of day. They are doing construction on 95 9PM to 5AM right now and it can get backed up. If you take 15 you can cut over to 95 in Milford. This is also where you get off to stop at my house for a break if you need one, but you want to be through New Haven and over the Q Bridge before the rush if posible after that it's fine to 93 or 95/128. It usually isn't as bad as you would think it is but sometimes...well bring a snack just in case. I also have an easypass for the tolls which can easily save an hour or more on this trip. When you trip gets closer I'll check and see where the night construction is.”

“There's apparently a jumper on the George Washington bridge right now. Traffic video looks terrible.”

“I imagine that if you're backing up about 500,000 commuters the odds are good that one of them will push your ass off just so they can get to work.”

“Well the closed lanes this morning were fortunately westbound going into New Jersey according to the radio report I heard. The large bulk of the morning rush goes the other way eastbound into New York. Still, anytime you have lane closures on an artery like the Washington Bridge, with 16 lanes (8 on either deck, 4 in each direction), it's going to create a traffic mess.”

“did he jump?”

“not so bad now....

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=traffic&id=3251597”

“Evidently not.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=local&id=5358725”

“So that's what was up.”