Boston area to Baltimore

I've got to drive down to Baltimore Monday for a conference.

My probable route is to take the Tappan Zee bridge to the Garden state parkway to the NJ turnpike and then just follow 95.

I'm thinking that I'll leave here between 5 AM and 6 AM which should get me to the Tappan Zee by 10am.

Does anyone have any suggestions for alternate routes or areas to avoid? My schedule is quite flexible since I only need to be in Baltimore for Tuesday morning. I'm basically looking for the quickest route to navigate the mess that is known as the east coast.

That is the most direct route. I suggest you leave about 10 AM on Monday to miss the traffic.

I've done the GW a few times and it's hard to predict.
Sailed through at 10am and 3pm but crawled at 7pm and parked for an hour at 1am. No rhyme or reason. Tappan Zee is usually freer flowing, but volume of traffic at peak hours is considerable.
I'd leave at 3am heading for the GW and tune in to traffic radio, can always peel right for TZ if it sounds like a parking lot.

mech644 said:

I've done the GW a few times and it's hard to predict.
Sailed through at 10am and 3pm but crawled at 7pm and parked for an hour at 1am. No rhyme or reason. Tappan Zee is usually freer flowing, but volume of traffic at peak hours is considerable.
I'd leave at 3am heading for the GW and tune in to traffic radio, can always peel right for TZ if it sounds like a parking lot.

Click to expand...

One of my thoughts was to leave super early so that I could get to the Air/Space Museum at Dulles early Monday afternoon.

What are the best radio stations for NYC traffic?

95 to 287 to 87 (Major Deegan Xway) to GW Bridge - up the corkscrew ramp in the Bronx, take Lower Deck, and express lanes to the Jersey tnpk. Quick?...no guarantees in NY. If you like excitement, follow 95 all the way through the Westchester and the Bronx. I normally try to get over the bridge by 6 - 7AM. Grew up down in that area, so I know.
Good luck, and don't break-down in the Bronx.

If you like NY do the bridge. I am not a city person and I just got home from Balto. So NH to Balto is 6.5 hrs. Since you are in Bridgewater zero dark thirty is ok for the GWB.

I've had good luck taking the Henry Hudson Pkwy in the past. It avoids all East-West lead-up to the GW bridge.

If U can, avoid the GW. The Garden State Parkway South and the NJ Turnpike South R not bad from 10am to 3pm. Unless you leave in the middle of the Night or buy a Terrafugia which happens to be Made in Massachusetts, U will not do better. While passing through NJ, U may want to fuel up. Currently, NJ has some of the lowest fuel prices in the nation. Check Gas Buddy.

As posted, avoid the GWB.

I grew up in Fairfield county, lived in NJ for 17 years, and am in MA since 2003. I haven't done the GWB/Bronx route probably since the late 1980s. Horrible way to go.

There's a NYC traffic station on Sirius.

We generally do the Tappan Zee, GSP, NJ Turnpike to head south.

Depending on the time, I've also gone out to 287, to avoid the GSP.

There are several other options to consider, too.

If there's no traffic, we usually do Mass Pike/84/Charter Oak bridge/91/Wilbur Cross/Merritt to get to the Tappan Zee.

Depending on the time, it may be best to stay on 84 and drop down 684 to the bridge.

I've even taken the Newburgh bridge sometimes, if Fairfield county traffic is really bad.

Totally agree with taking Tappan/287 to 295. Do it at least once a month, and worth the extra miles...

I customarily (out of habit only) take the Merrit and Hutchinson to the GWB.
That and I'm apparently numerically dyslexic. I-278 and I-287 are too similar appearing on signs and I've gone astray before.
I'll then get off the turnpike, head west to Trenton, and rejoin I-95S when it resumes.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I might try the GW bridge if I leave early enough, otherwise it's the Tappan Zee. Altas and GPS will be nearby if I need them.

JUst got back from Balto to So NH. No probs. Looks like I have to do another trip this week. Ageing inlaws do require extra help..........

I'm here till Thursday afternoon. I left around 6am on Monday. I hit a liitle traffic on 95 and the merit parkway but by the time I got to the GWB around 9:45, it was wide open.


Peter, looks like your tdi's are getting lots of exercise but I hope you don't have to make those trips too often.

Well Family situation dictates.... Came down Tues AM 6.5 hrs Home thurs evening & first fri on Fri.. kinda like the old days 1k a week. Perhaps things might slow down a bit so the HO5G can get back to normal.....

johnboy00 said:

What are the best radio stations for NYC traffic?

Click to expand...

1010 AM on the 1's and 880 on the 8's. (Is it just me or has Jeff McKay been doing the evening traffic on 1010 since forever?)

NYC traffic can be very messy and fast-changing. You can certainly save some time (vs. the TZ bridge) taking something like the Meritt to the Hutchinson River Parkway to the Cross County Parkway to the Henry Hudson Parkway to the GW to the NJ Turnpike, but if the GW is screwed up you'll hate your life. (There are 20 different ways to get from the Merritt to the GW, though, so if the problem is in the Bronx you have options.) On a good day you can use I-87 instead of the Henry Hudson (and save a few bucks), and on a really good day the NY section of I-95 will be clear and goes like greased lightning, but don't bet on it.

That said, it's maybe 30 extra miles to really go around, taking I-84 (via the Kingston bridge) to I-87 to I-287, etc., and never get closer than an hour from NYC. If you're staring rush hour in the teeth, that can also be a winner. Taking the TZ instead of the GW is no guarantee of a smaller backup.

I used to drive various pieces of this daily (the worst was White Plains to Manhattan to New Brunswick, NJ to White Plains every day, but now I live in Boston and head for NYC and Baltimore pretty regularly), and it can be kind of fun to outsmart the mess but on a bad day it's just super-miserable no matter what. Sometimes Southwest is cheaper to Baltimore than driving, too.

I actually drove right into NYC through the Holland tunnel (5-10 minute back up) at 7pm last night, found off street parking 1/2 a block from the Katz deli and got my self a nice pastrami sandwich for dinner before heading back home. The Henry Hudson parkway gave me a 20 minute back up, but driving through NYC was better than Ct. 95 north had a couple of 5-10 mile road construction back ups. I could have avoided one if I took the Merit parkway, but the second caused me to drive rt 1 north for a few exits in Old Lyme.

I was at a laser conference in Baltimore. The guy in booth next to me was from the UK and planning to take the train to Newark last night. Since I was driving by anyway, I offered him a ride. He said "I hope my bag fits in your car" and I said, "No problem I've got a Passat TDI station wagon" to which he replied, "so do I". He's got the same B5/B5.5 but with a 1.9 engine and the 5 speed that I wish I had. The world really is a small place.

My favorite way out of NYC is the Henry Hudson up over the bridge at the top of Manhattan (past the GW), then the cross-county to the Hutchinson, which turns into the Merritt. Then you can cut over to 95 or stay on the Merritt to 91 to 84 to 90. Done it many, many times. The Merritt is a lot of fun after rush hour. Lots of hills and curves, and people really move.

When I travel to Annapolis, I usually take I95 right over the GW if the traffic is good, otherwise I'll use the Tappan Zee.

When I get toward Philly I cross over into PA and continue on I95, otherwise you get stuck paying a toll on the Delaware Memorial Bridge, and another toll to get out of Delaware. I95 does a goofy loop up & over Philly, but there are ways to avoid that. Once I'm back on I95 in Delware, I hop off at the exit for University of Delaware for food or a restroom break. There's a pretty easy way to cross into MD from there w/o getting back on I95 and paying to get out of DE.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=01038&daddr=40.19652,-74.59677+to:39.90839,-75.14757+to:39.66321,-75.77272+to:Annapolis,+MD&hl=en&geocode=FReyhgIdTRKs-ymREpEU8NPmiTFee-SnwzsnBg%3BFahZZQIdXr6N-ynbQ5L6KV7BiTEyKLSqCt52Rg%3BFSb0YAIdzlaF-yk_YZJqT8_GiTHZAzcKpNOj5A%3BFWo2XQId0Mx7-ym3VafwcKnHiTHpQM1x9_2nSA%3BFY3DUgIdadJw-ynVL2dwZfa3iTFLJ6jT_VT4Qw&mra=dpe&mrsp=2&sz=10&via=1,2,3&sll=39.906576,-75.033875&sspn=0.459299,0.877533&ie=UTF8&ll=39.884977,-75.108719&spn=0.114861,0.219383&z=12