Trying to get from brooklyn to new jersey (teaneck area), which of these 3 would be the best route on a weekday morning (a bit past rush hour)?
The choices are basically 1) battery tunnel to the west side highway to the george washington bridge 2) battery tunnel to the holland tunnel to 1/9 or the NJ turnpike, or 3) brooklyn bridge to the fdr to the george washington.
[I know the question is a little subjective if asked as “what is the best route,” but I also think “which has the least traffic” can also have a factual answer.]
Also, if no one knows, are there any other forums where the regulars would know this kind of thing?
I think Battery to FDR to GW would be your best bet. FDR is all highway while the West Side Hwy has lights. And it’s pretty much against traffic the whole way.
Holland Tunnel might not to bad. But you might get tied up in the local streets between the Holland and the Battery. But the Pulaski Skyway (1/9) should be ok and you miss the GW (which always seems to have traffic).
I’d say, Manhattan Bridge to the Holland Tunnel. If you say just after rush hour, you might get screwed on Canal street, but ultimately you will be going the opposite direction of traffic when you get to the Jersey neck of your trip.
If you take the Holland tunnel you DEFINITELY do not want to take the Battery tunnel, too many winding streets in the most intense traffic part of the city. Canal is a straight shot.
Honestly, just listen to the traffic reports as you set out, because even though there are reasons to argue for one route over others in the abstract, on any given day there are decent odds that there’ll be an accident, emergency pothole repair, etc., that will change things. WINS (1010 AM) has traffic reports on the 1s (:01, :11, and so on), and WCBS (880 AM) has traffic on the 8s.
That said, I’d also vote for the FDR to the GWB. Teaneck is about 10-15 minutes past the GW on Rt. 4.
But speaking of the 1010/880 traffic reports, GilaB, I have actually found them to be pretty useless, except for reporting all-day or scheduled maintenance/closures/presidents-in-town. Otherwise they seem to lag quite a bit, and they will often report an accident in an area that I am currently in and in reality the wreck has already been removed. Likewise I will come across an accident and then only hear about it on the radio 20 or 30 minuts later. Anyone else ever have this experience?
Yep. I do listen and sometimes obey. I take the Palisades down to the GWB as my preferred approach from Orange County, NY. They will say there’s a 30-45 minute backup from my approach and half the time I sail through in 10. ( Which, trust me, is sailing through at that entrance during any time between 6:30am and 10:00 am ).
It is a function of lack of cell-phone input from listeners. I have sometimes called in to say, " That accident was cleared, traffic is now moving fine, I just drove through that area". They’re always grateful. They do depend upon listeners more than official notifies for accidents and backups. Construction delays and scheduled starts? Yeah, they are useful for that.
I’ve heard of GPS based traffic pattern mapping and real-time reports. No clue how to subscribe to such a thing.
