I am traveling from Baltimore to Boston. In the past I have taken the NJ Turnpike, crossing the GW bridge. Traffic in the area is always horrendous. Someone told me there is a better way, involving, I believe, the Tappen Zee bridge, but she was very vague. Mapquest always gives the route I have taken in the past. Is there a way from Baltimore to Boston that takes less time, that skirts the GW bridge in some manner. I don’t even care if it is longer, just less congested and hopefully faster. Anyone know of any way?
NJ turnpike to 287N.
Exit 10 IIRC.
Check the traffic reports. I’ve found the quickest way is right down the belly of the beast (GW to XBronx) when there is no traffic. And yes there are times when there isn’t much traffic. 1010 WINS (AM) and 101.5 (FM) give frequent traffic reports.
The Palisades and Garden State Parkways intersect with both I-95 and I-287. You can take either of them north to I-287W/I-87S, which crosses the Tappan Zee Bridge. Once across, stay to the left to remain on I-287, the Cross-Westchester Expressway. You have two options at this point:
Option 1: Remain on I-287 to the end, which runs back into I-95N in Greenwich, CT, and continue as normal
Option 2: Take I-684N towards Brewster, then I-84E across central CT, to I-90E, the MA turnpike.
I know some people suggest NJ turnpike to 87N (NY Thruway) to Harriman and 84 E to the Mass Turnpike.
YMMV.
I would also check the road conditions on I-95 in CT. There is a lot of roadwork and occasional bridge fires.
[Railfan]
Take the train from DC!
[/Railfan]
I’ll stop foaming now.
I’m also a railfan - BUT - I have been on a few of the cattle cars to Beantown - esp during the holidays - when I wished I was sitting on the X-Bronx doing much of nothing but watching the slow force of urban decay.
As they say - It is all in the timing.
Of course if Daurbach is thinking of Thanksgiving - I’d leave now.
If your goal is to avoid traffic, think outside the box:
- Go north from Baltimore on I-83
- At Harrisburg, take I-81 north.
- At Binghamton, NY, get on I-88 to Albany
- At the end of I-88, get on the NY Thruway. It’s I-90 at that point; go two exits and get off, following I-90 (Bonus: that stretch of the Thruway has no toll*)
- I-90 leads back to the Thruway (Toll: $0.55) and then becomes the Mass Pike. Then it’s a straight shot to Boston.
The distance from Baltimore to Albany is about 30 miles further than going the Mapquest way (Mapquest does not believe I-88 exists unless you’re going between Albany and Binghamton and nowhere else), but there is no traffic. None.
Currently, there’s a slight construction delay where I-81 turns north, but it’s nearly completed; we drove up that way yesterday with no slowdown. It’s also a very pretty drive. We drove from DC to Schenectady in 8 hours; it’s another 3 or so to Boston.
*Due to an arrangement, travel between exit 24 and 25A has no toll (although you need to pick up a toll ticket) as long as you don’t go any further on the Thruway.
A small shortcut just after the Tappan Zee bridge is to take the Saw Mill Parkway to I-684 to I-84 through CT - saves perhaps 5 miles. The only catch is that the SMP is autos only - no trucks, trailers or commercial plates.
I-84 through CT to the Mass Pike will nearly always be faster than I-95. Try to avoid rush hour, especially near Hartford.
I used to set out from DC at about 8:00 PM and drive I-95 the whole way to New Haven. No traffic, fast as hell, limited toll annoyances in NJ, driving by Manhattan’s kinda fun…Then I-91 to I-84 past Hartford, up to I-90, through Woostah and on to Beantown. Takes about 8 hours, so you’re looking at about 5:00 AM arrival, if you give yourself some stops for gas, food, and coffee.
Everyone always told me I was nuts to go through NYC, but at that hour it wasn’t bad at all, and this route beat all others timewise, even when I pulled overnighters on other routes.
It sounds like some great alternate routes exist. From all those given, Reality’s seems like the way to go, for me at least. I would trade 30 extra miles for a loss of stop and go traffic any day of the week. As an aside, EZ Pass is the greatest invention for toll travel known to man. You just blow past anything needing a toll and it gets automatically deducted from your credit card (the way I have it set up). It even works on the NJ turnpike, although I have no idea how it knows when you get on or off. Usually the speed limit at the EZ Pass places is 5-15MPH but on the turnpike you never even slow down.
Question for RealityChuck: Mapquest says their route is 404 miles, expected travel time 6 1/2 hours. I am at work and don’t have an atlas. Are you saying I would add about 30 miles to the total trip? If that is the case, it is the best way, for someone with my hatred of stop and go traffic.
I’ve made this drive 30-40 times (well, from Philly or Philly suburbs) and always use Loopydude’s 8PM departure method whenever feasible. 95 all the way is fastest and easiest hands down. If you leave at most any other time, though, plan on getting stuck in traffic. When and if I chance this route at another time, I ALWAYS get stuck in Connecticut. Sometimes I wish NJ would just annex the whole state and pave it!
Practice!
Dauerbach, I don’t think you have read Realitychuck’s complete post. He is taking you on a huge detour around basically the whole East Coast, one in which you are basically driving straight North from DC, through PA to New York state, then all the way across Mass. from New York.
Not saying it isn’t usually a low traffic route or very pretty, but it is definitely not faster or only 30mi. longer than your Mapquest route. More like 11hrs. total, by Reality’s own accounting, compared to ~8hrs driving 95 the whole way. The shortest distance between two points is always a straight line.
Nothing to add but just more support for going across the GW bridge.
The best time saver is to pick a good time to do it. There’s no way to avoid traffic without going WAY out of your way (e.g. going through Albany).
My calculations show the albany route being at least 8 hours, with the I-95 route about 6.5.
That’s about my experience too. About 3-3.5 from Baltimore to NY, another 3-3.5 or so from NY to boston.
I’ve driven from Baltimore to Maine many times.
The route suggested by RealityChuck is quite a bit longer, and you need to watch the weather forecasts if you’re using it in the winter. I-81 in a snow and ice storm is no fun whatsoever. Been there, done that, wouldn’t repeat it.
A variation on that route is to take I-81 until just before Scranton, then grab I-84 east to Hartford, CT. (The same caution about weather applies - the western portion of I-84 goes through fairly high country, without a lot of services in the off-season.) In my experience, using that route, rather than the “straight up the East Coast” route, adds at least an hour to the trip, and more like 90 minutes. Going through Albany has to add over 2 hours.
I agree that RealityChuck’s approach is a massive detour. Also, Connecticut has no tolls anywhere, so why avoid it?
My approach would be to cross the Hudson River via the tunnels, the GW Bridge or the Tappan Zee Bridge (depending on the traffic conditions) and then take the Hutchinson River Parkway, which becomes the Merritt Parkway/Wilbur Cross Parkway in Connecticut. Stay on that until it merges with I-91N around Meriden. At Hartford, take I-84E to Massachusetts, and then get on the Massachusetts Turnpike. The Merritt Parkway is only two lanes in each direction, but it’s only for cars and it’s a pretty drive at the right time of year. Plus it goes more or less diagonally northeast, so it should be a little shorter.
If you want to stop to gamble, you can take I-95 all the way and stop at the Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut.
You might check out Map24, which r0x0rs for this kind of thing. The mileages it gives for the routes discussed are (roughly):
Baltimore -> Philly -> Enwye -> Boston: 400 miles
Baltimore -> Harrisburg -> Scranton -> Hartford -> Boston: 490 miles
Baltimore -> Harrisburg -> Binghamton -> Albany -> Boston: 570 miles
Yeah, I messed up on the distance, since I’m used to going to Albany; my route is probably too long. Early Out is a better version of the route. Mapquest gives it as about 490 miles, but if you’ve ever been stuck in a twelve-mile pileup on the NJ Turnpike (I have), you’ll see that it’s going to be faster.
If there are no traffic jams, I-95 is going to be better. If there are, Early Out’s route will be better.
I concur with taking the Saw Mill Pkwy to I-684 is a relatively good shortcut, especially when there’s any kind of traffic build-up on I-287. But be careful: it’s not an interstate-grade road. It has signals, and is really not designed for speeds greater than 50 MPH.
My family drives from DC to Maine quite a bit. Here’s the course we take:
- I-95 North from the Capital Beltway (I-495)
- Either stay on I-95 through Bal’more, or take I-895 to where it rejoins I-95
- I-95 N into Delaware. Follow signs to Delaware Memorial Bridge/New Jersey Turnpike. Avoid I-95 and I-295, as they go too close to Philadelphia
- Take NJTP (it eventually becomes I-95) to the Garden State Parkway - North
- Take the GSP to I-87/287 South
- Go over the Tappan Zee Bridge
- Just past the bridge, watch carefully for the exit signs to the Saw Mill Pkwy. If you miss it, you can continue on I-287 to I-684 N
- If you catch the SMP, take it north and merge onto I-684.
- Take I-684 N to I-84 E
- Take I-84 E all the way to the Mass Tpke (I-90 E)
- To Boston, take I-90E all the way into Boston.
- To Maine, Exit I-90 to I-290 N
- Take I-290 to I-495 E (this will avoid Boston traffic)
- Take I-495 to I-95 N
- Take I-95 to NH and Maine.