How bad is traffic at on I81 in Syracuse, NY a Friday evening around 5-6pm?

[isabellea]

We live in Montreal, QC so our drive to Orlando is 23h. Last year we stopped 1 night but this time we want to try it with no overnight. We usually prefer to cross the border at the Thousand Island and take the I81 instead of I89. Last summer we left home at 9pm on a Thursday night and traffic in the Syracuse area was not an issue. But this year we want to leave around 1pm so that bring us at Syracuse at 5-6pm. We were thinking of stopping just north of Syracuse for dinner (either a rest area or fast food) but we are wondering if we’ll be stuck in traffic after we are done with our meal. And how bad is traffic there? Montreal traffic is really bad so we are used to it and last year we got pretty bad traffic during afternoon rush hour on a Friday in Charlotte, NC so I’m wondering if Syracuse traffic is similar or less.
Thank you!

 

[tinkerbell1fan]

Syracuse traffic is really nothing compared to larger cities in the worst situation you would be through the downtown area in less than 10-15 minutes unless there is an accident on I81. Not sure when you are going the only other time traffic would hold you up is if there is a Syracuse University Basketball.Football game scheduled.

 

[OntFamily]

You'll be fine. I'm assuming your concern is time, not driving in traffic (as you're from Montreal, you're probably used to bad traffic -- nothing is as bad as driving on the 40 at rush hour).

 

[msb578]

Syracuse traffic is really nothing compared to larger cities in the worst situation you would be through the downtown area in less than 10-15 minutes unless there is an accident on I81. Not sure when you are going the only other time traffic would hold you up is if there is a Syracuse University Basketball.Football game scheduled.

Agree 100%.

Occasionally summer road construction can cause a minor backup.

But we simply don't have the traffic of a large city.

 

[isabellea]

You'll be fine. I'm assuming your concern is time, not driving in traffic (as you're from Montreal, you're probably used to bad traffic -- nothing is as bad as driving on the 40 at rush hour).

You're correct, time lost is my concern, not driving in traffic as we know bad traffic very well.

Thank you all for your replies. It's exactly what I was hoping for.