<p>I know this is short notice; however, my kid is on the road, stopped for the night and is heading to New Haven tomorrow. AAA suggests 80 to 287 across the Hudson then 95 heading NE. He asked if I would see if any East Coast folk could verify that this would be the best route considering the impending storm.
Any suggestions or worldly advice is appreciated. (He can’t turn back as his friend has job interviews.)
Thank you,
pianomom</p>
<p>I think it’s probably the best. The other option would be to take 80 to 95/NJT and go across the George Washington Bridge, then follow 95 into Connecticut.</p>
<p>Personally, if the kids aren’t too tired right now, my opinion would be to push on to New Haven tonight. Or at least to Stamford. The other thing I am thinking is that the forecast is calling for very heavy snow during drive time: GO EARLY!!! And also, call ahead and be sure that the interview is still on.</p>
<p>And I think with the storm, I would prefer I-95 (formerly the Connecticut Turnpike) to US15 (Hutchinson Parkway/Merritt Parkway). 95 is further to the south, closer to the shoreline. The Merritt roughly parallels it, but is 5-8 miles inland. “North of the Merritt” is often the dividing line between liquid and frozen precipitation.</p>
<p>I live in Fairfield County CT. The radio station to listen to will be 880 AM. Possibly 1010AM. Once into Connecticut, I would like WEBE 107.9 FM in the morning. They’ll have the Snow School Schedule starting at 5 am as well as weather and traffic after every song!</p>
<p>Just be careful, drive slowly, watch for the monster tractor trailers. There’s a rest area in Darien CT, right after Stamford exit 9, if they feel the need to pull over and regroup. Also another in Fairfield like around exit 20.</p>
<p>PM me if you need more info or the kids need a local contact on the ground!</p>
<p>If it was an option, which apparently it isn’t, I’d say drive tonight until across the Hudson River. The weather forecast is iffy re: rain/snow which is usually a very bad thing whether crossing via 287 or 95. Crossing further north on 84 will add nearly two hours to the trip. Ugh. There is a small bridge crossing between 287 and 84 suitable for a true emergency — i.e., a traffic delay of two hours or more. (Yes, that happens sometimes.) Can you get your S and his friend on the road by three AM?</p>
<p>My most sincere thanks cnp55 and NewHope33. I have forwarded your posts to my son. They are going to try to get some sleep and will hopefully get going early. Interviews are not until Thursday pm and Friday so they have time on their side. I truly appreciate your advice. Thank you.</p>
<p>5 inches of snow are expected for Danville starting at 4 AM before changing to sleet and freezing rain by late morning.</p>
<p>When I made the drive between Allentown and Boston in December, I went the 287 to 684 to 84 route; I realize this is much farther north than your kid will be going, but when I drove back to Allentown five days later, it was the day of the notorious ice storm that caused power outages across the northeast. Everyone told me to head south to I-95 because hugging the coast would be safer due to the warmer temperatures. I had rain the whole way, but much better than ice! In northern NJ, I had to pull off and find an auto shop to get replacement windshield wiper blades.</p>
<p>So if this were your kid, would you suggest he sit tight and wait it out. The forecast for Thursday looks good. Is it likely that the highways will be cleared by then?</p>
<p>Actually, yes I would. If they were closer into the metro area, I’d not be so worried; but the rural area of I-80 that they’re on (I had to look up Danville on a map) would make me nervous. They still have to drive through the Poconos, and higher elevations are expected to get worse weather. Anything you can tempt them with, like, offering to pay for all their take-out food, any pay-per-view movies in the hotel room, etc. to get them to stay put? The reason I know this is because my daughter just left Allentown to drive to Philly tonight for an audition tomorrow, so I’ve been following the weather carefully. Thankfully, she’s not driving, and they may just beat the bad weather.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. My husband and I just talked to the kids and they have agreed to stay where they are until early Thursday morning unless a miracle occurs and the highway is clear. Hopefully Thursday will be better.</p>
<p>Smart move!</p>
<p>I like this idea much better. Every school in Connecticut is closed already and I just took the dogs out in 2-3 inches of fresh snow and it’s coming down. Roads should be great tomorrow morning.</p>
<p>any updates?</p>
<p>Thank you for your concern and suggestions. The kids had a clear drive Thursday morning arriving in New Haven a little after noon. All is well. They head back to Ohio Friday around noon. Thanks again.</p>
<p>that’s good news. Am glad they stayed in PA for two nights.</p>