Paging all New Jersey and NYC drivers

[JoeCathyAngelina]

As a casualty of DirectAir We're driving to WDW and leaving Friday afternoon; we would be hitting NYC and the GW bridge at about 4:30-5:00 pm.
Should we skip NYC/GW/Jersey pike/95 and shoot for the Tappanzee/Garden State Pkwy?
Thanks,
Joe

 

[cornflake]

Coming from Boston? You're going to be in traffic most of the way down on a Friday night through Ct... if you're going to the Merritt or 84 to the Hutch to the GW, you're going against rush hour in general and you should be fine. Tappanzee traffic is no picnic, often worse than the GW - I'd stay away on a Friday.

I would pay the $4 for the HH bridge to the bridge though, if you take 87, you'll sit and sit and sit. It's worth the $4.

 

[JenSinMA]

Coming from Boston? You're going to be in traffic most of the way down on a Friday night through Ct... if you're going to the Merritt or 84 to the Hutch to the GW, you're going against rush hour in general and you should be fine. Tappanzee traffic is no picnic, often worse than the GW - I'd stay away on a Friday.

I would pay the $4 for the HH bridge to the bridge though, if you take 87, you'll sit and sit and sit. It's worth the $4.

What's the HH bridge? I was planning to take the Tappanzee on Friday, but timing it not to hit it until 7pm. I don't mind paying $4, I just want the most stress-free drive.

 

[JoeCathyAngelina]

Coming from Boston? You're going to be in traffic most of the way down on a Friday night through Ct... if you're going to the Merritt or 84 to the Hutch to the GW, you're going against rush hour in general and you should be fine. Tappanzee traffic is no picnic, often worse than the GW - I'd stay away on a Friday.

I would pay the $4 for the HH bridge to the bridge though, if you take 87, you'll sit and sit and sit. It's worth the $4.

Thanks for the warning,
Do you think a straight shot through Connecticut on 95 and the Cross Bronx to the GW would be a better route?

 

[francie57]

Avoid 95 in CT if at all possible - there is never a good time to travel that road. If you are coming from Boston I would take the turnpike to the Sturbridge exit for Rt 84 and take 84 through CT to 684, to the Saw Mill Parkway (around exit 5), then take exit 21? for the TappanZee and go over the bridge and take the Garden State to the turnpike.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Your proposed route will be a nightmare of traffic.

Go to mapquest.com and do a search for directions from Boston to Orlando. You can drag the proposed route to try different ways. I have driven from Boston to DC a number of times and prefer avoiding New Jersey and the NYC area altogether. I have taken the Mass Turnpike west to 84W to 81 through Harrisburg, PA, to 15S through Gettysburg, to 270 to 95S (smaller roads left out). Much less traffic and doesn't add a lot of miles either. Or you can catch 83 from Harrisburg and take the loop around Baltimore. There are many alternatives to avoid the NYC area from Boston.

 

[Chaoster]

I would say never take the cross bronx at any time that road is always packed.
I would skip the bronx if at all possible. Yankees opening day, Game might let out around the same time as rush hour.

 

[cornflake]

Somewhere, I'm guessing lurking in another thread, is the response I put here yesterday, heh.

I would NOT do 95 to the GW - 95 near the city is always, always a mess and often above that.

I would also stay away from the Tappanzee, especially on a Friday.

To do the HH (Henry Hudson) Bridge instead, you need to either come down 84 or 91 to the Merritt (CT 15), both of which turn into the Hutchinson River Parkway (the Hutch).

You then stay on the Hutch, stay in the left lanes, it's pretty short, <10 miles, to the Cross County Parkway. Again just stay on it to the left and you'll end up on the Saw Mill (this one has a curved fork to the left, the Cross County is just a plain fork to the left, both signs I *think* also say New York City).

The Saw Mill turns into the Henry Hudson Parkway as it moves through the Bronx (these are all fairly short roads). The HH Parkway will put you on the HH Bridge (also short), which has the $4 toll.

Going over the HH Bridge puts you on the West Side Highway. Stay, again, to the left. About a mile and a half, two miles after the bridge, you'll see the sign for the GW Bridge. It's a left exit that will put you on the street, on Riverside Drive, for like a half block. Can't miss it, big signs, just hang a right off the exit and the Bridge entrance ramp is right there.

The HH Bridge way avoids the 95/Cross Bronx/Deegan exchange entirely and is almost always much less crowded (if you're going down 87 or 95 at 2am on a Tuesday there's no crowd but even to 10pm you can find a crowd trying to get off 87 to the GW or clogging up the Cross Bronx, etc. and this way avoids Yankee Stadium as well), it's faster and shorter, it's a nicer drive and the entrance ramp to the GW is much shorter and with less traffic, as it's a more direct way to get on the ramp.

In general, I'd say take the Merritt (CT 15) or 91 to the Hutch, but the Merritt on a Friday is almost always crowded and it has fewer lanes than 84.

You CAN do the above from 95 - you get off in Westchester, I think it's the Mamaroneck Ave. exit, and drive a couple miles on Mamaroneck and get on the Hutch directly and then follow along.

 

[JoeCathyAngelina]

Thanks all,
Majority rules, we're doing 90 to 84 to Saw Mill to 287 over the Tappan Zee to the Garden State.
After that we only have 1100 miles and 19 hrs to go.
Thanks all,
Joe