Well, you DC area folks are pretty much STUCK with I-95 up untill the George Washington Bridge. However, as a native New Yorker now living in New England, I'll divulge my route of choice. Once over the GWB, get off asap and onto the Henry Hudson Pkwy which is Route 9a. I forget the signage for this. I think you have to get off at 178th and follow signs. I'll have to double check, as what the signs say depends on whether you are on the upper or lower level of the GWB. It is WELL worth the effort to get onto the Henry Hudson however!! (South of GWB, Henry Hudson is West Side Hwy) By doing this, you are avoiding the Cross-Bronx Expressway which is a b*tch and a half.(that is being kind; I HATE THAT ROAD) You will also avoid the construction on i-95 in NY at about exits 7-10. Take the Henry Hudson Pkwy and continue on it. It will turn into the Saw Mill Pkwy which you will follow to exit 4, Cross County Pkwy. Take Cross County and stay toward the left. You will merge with the Hutchinson Pkwy North. Follow the "Hutch" and stay straight to continue onto the Merrit Pkwy. This is well signed, do not follow the signage for i-684 or i-287. While yes, the Merrit can be brutal traffic wise a times, it is a VERY beautiful drive and MUCH better (traffic and otherwise) than i-95 through SW CT, which is just plain sucks IMO. I might add the they are doing lots of construction through Bridgeport, Norwalk and a bunch of other areas. The lanes through Bridgeport are especially narrow and cause slowdowns. The other nice thing about the Merrit is NO TRUCKS!!, which is true of ALL parkways in the area. CAVEAT:If your vehicle has commercial plates DO NOT TAKE THIS ROUTE!!! Stay on the Merrit Pkwy until exit 54, which is right after a new bridge they just built to hook back up with i-95, then stay on 95 thru to 93 in Mass. An alternate if you want to avoid 95 entirely after the GWB, is to stay on the Merrit to exit 68 NE and merge onto i-91 North, follw that to i-84 east, then follow that to the Mass Pike East(i-90). There are several ways to get to the fest from the MA pike. Taking the MA pike may or may not be quicker, usually works out to the same, but will cost ya more in tolls. A few usefull TIPS
AM traffic stations are AWESOME for avoiding tie-ups in the NY Metro. Start listening in central to northern NJ
880 AM: Traffic every 10 min on the 8s
1010 AM: Traffic every 10 min on the 1s
1130 AM: Traffic every 10 min on the 5s
Boston
1030AM, not sure when they do the traffic reports but they are frequent.
Also, taking i-295 to avoid driving thru Providence usually isn't a time saver as it adds more miles to the trip. Also, they are doing construction in a few parts. Traffic on that weekend should also be going in the opposite direction toward the south county beaches........
Hope this helps
). It's also the most direct route and you get to skip all but a couple miles of I-95 and most of I-91.
