Sections to avoid on highway Boston to Baltimore?

Parent Cafe
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<p>Going on our college road trip next week. Any particular part of NYC to Baltimore and Boston to NYC roads that are under construction and should be avoided? Thanks.</p>

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<p>Not really, but it can be helpful to check google traffic and other similar sites right before getting on the road. And whatever you do don’t take the Cross Bronx Expressway (95) on a weekday. It’s less awful on the weekend, but it’s well worth taking other routes if you possibly can. We nearly always take GW bridge, but get off right away onto Henry Hudson Parkway. It’s worth listening to the radio (880 or 1010 AM) to find out if upper or lower level of the GW is better or if you are better off taking a tunnel into NYC and going up the West Side highway. (The bridge has to be seriously backed up for this to be worth it, but we’ve done it from time to time.)</p>

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<p>Hope you’re not in a rush! Traffic jams on that route (going mostly I-95??) often have nothing to do with construction.</p>

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<p>Going Boston to LaGuardia. Thinking I-95 down to Hutchinson to Whitestone?</p>

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<p>IHS … you’ve got the right route. I’d scoot to Merritt in Milford CT and take the Merritt to the Hutch. But no promises on backups. Take a GPS but use your eyes and ears – direct observation and radio.</p>

<p>The other option – but it all depends on what schools you are seeing between Boston and NYC – would be the Mass Pike out of Boston to 84, to 684, to the Hutch to the Whitestone. By all rights should be cleaner and smoother. But not if you were planning to tour Brown, Yale, ConnColl, Fairfield etc. </p>

<p>Variants of the northern route work for Amherst, Trinity, Wesleyan, Clark, Vassar etc.</p>

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<p>The Whitestone is notorious for congestion. Nice view of the city though.</p>

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<p>Whitestone can be bad, but unless there’s actually an accident Throg’s Neck is not going to save you any time. Hutch to Whitestone is usually fine, but sometimes on weekends you are actually better off going via 95 and the Bruckner to get to the Whitestone. (We are all to familiar with going to the airport(s)!</p>

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<p>If you have an EZ pass, it will be worth your while to have it on those routes.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the advice. Nothing like the locals you know.</p>

<p>Won’t be looking at any schools between Boston and LGA. Drive down and fly out. This’ll be on tuesday afternoon and our flight out is at 6 pm so maybe we’ll beat the rush hour a little bit. </p>

<p>How can I get an EZ pass? Hertz isn’t offering anything on their website.</p>

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<p>Not sure if you live in MA or MD, but here’s the website for MA: [MTA</a> - FAST LANE Program](<a href=“http://www.masspike.com/travel/fastlane/index.html]MTA”>http://www.masspike.com/travel/fastlane/index.html)
and the one for MD [E-ZPass®</a> Maryland](<a href=“http://www.ezpassmd.com/en/home/index.shtml]E-ZPass®”>http://www.ezpassmd.com/en/home/index.shtml)</p>

<p>The time you save makes it extremely worthwhile to get an EZ pass. Plus, you can use it on almost any toll road in the NE.</p>

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<p>I don’t know how long it takes to get EZ passes, but it’s no problem being out of state. My parents got theirs when they lived in VA and drove up to see us all the time.</p>

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<p>There’s really no good way to avoid it, but I-95 in Delaware is a horrendous. 2 SB interstates merge from PA & NJ creating delays. Then you hit the toll. NB, they never seem to have enough toll lanes open. Plan for stop-n-go in most of the First State. Or, if you’re travelling off-peak, maybe you can average 35 mph. :(</p>

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<p>DougBetsy, “good” news is that we’ll hit that portion about 1 am. Land at LGA about 9 pm and head down to Baltimore :)</p>

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<p>I-95 almost every where is awful.</p>

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<p>Are you visiting schools in Philly? I’m a little confused about what your itinerary is, exactly.</p>

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<p>None in Philly.</p>

<p>Our trip is outlined in </p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/779017-epic-east-coast-college-road-trip-am-i-nuts.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/779017-epic-east-coast-college-road-trip-am-i-nuts.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Just checking on our first and last day along I-95 to see whether we needed to make any detours.</p>

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<p>The short answer is: all of I-95.</p>

<p>You are brave. Can’t wait to hear your war stories!</p>

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<p>I suggest you get as far south as possible on the night of your arrival. I see you have a 9 PM NYC arrival time, but f you have it in you, drive south for a couple of hours. You should be able to make good time that late…If you’re going to tour Hopkins and then get almost to Pittsburgh on Day 1, you really have your work cut out for you. My experience is that it can take 5-6 hours to get to Baltimore from NYC, in the AM. Afternoon traffic in Baltimore isn’t nearly as bad as NYC/NJ/DE, but it can come to a standstill at the most inconvenient times and I’d plan accordingly. Just a thought. </p>

<p>Have you considered taking the train from NYC to Baltimore and then renting a car in MD? Not sure if it’s even feasible, but it might be worth investigating the possibilities</p>

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<p>Don’t forget that box of quarters I told you about on that other thread! Makes parking a breeze.</p>

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<p>Make sure you take a GPS system with you on the drive…in case you have to detour, or WANT to detour.</p>

<p>I don’t envy the trip. I thought I was nuts when we did a 6 school trip from PA to NY to VA then NC in 4 days…and he didn’t pick any of them ;)</p>

<p>Safe travels!!</p>