<p>Hi CC friends! H and I are taking a short trip next week - from northern CT to Pittsburgh, for a couple days, then up to Niagara-on-the-Lake for a couple days, then home. </p>
<p>Question for those in the know. Google maps is giving us 3 options from CT to Pgh:</p>
<ol>
<li> 84 to 81 to 80 (we’re familiar with that part, as D went to Bucknell), get off 80 near State College, to Rt 220 to Rt 22 and into the city.</li>
<li> 80 all the way across PA, to 79 and down into the city</li>
<li> 78 to 70 into the city.</li>
</ol>
<p>Google is telling me that #1 is shortest in time and distance - but it looks like 220 and 22 are chancey. </p>
<p>What do you all think? We’d be leaving CT early on Monday morning.</p>
<p>I’d take number 2.</p>
<p>And make sure you go to Pamela’s for breakfast, and Primantis for lunch!</p>
<p>It’s a toss-up between Pamela’s and Delucas for breakfast!!</p>
<p>But no toss up for lunch!!</p>
<p>Agree with Thumper about choice #2. </p>
<p>The Pittsburgh to NOTL is an easy drive up 79 to 90 to Buffalo. Cross at the Buffalo/Fort Erie Peace Bridge border crossing. It is a larger crossing with more booths open all the time. Of course, it will depend on time of day as to how long the wait is. Have fun in NOTL, it’s a beautiful town. It’s only about an hour from us and we go often. Are you seeing a show?</p>
<p>220 from I80 to Altoona is as good as any highway, but 22 is a different story and parts of it have tons of traffic lights. It’s probably shorter though.</p>
<p>Dad<em>of</em>3…is 22 a limited access highway from Altoona to…say…Murrysville? Would that be where it started to be congested?</p>
<p>alwaysamom…it sounds beautiful! No - not planning on seeing a show…we’ve never seen the falls so we’ll spend some time down there, and then just stroll around NOTL, I guess!!</p>
<p>
Altoona to outskirts of Ebensburg is quite fast doesn’t have any traffic lights. And then you have a few till you hit Blairsville, also doable at the speed limit. After Blairsville, till you hit Parkway East (Rte 376W in Monroeville) you basically have 2 lanes each way, with speed limits changing between 45 and 55 with traffic lights becoming more frequent after Delmont/Route 66. Barring constructions and accidents, I haven’t experienced traffic slowdowns probably up to the 22/286 intersection which is a couple of miles before the Parkway. </p>
<p>The biggest traffic slowdowns I’ve seen in the whole route to Pittsburgh other than accidents and roadwork are the commuter related slowdowns generally in the morning from Monroeville/Churchill till you cross the Squirrel Hill tunnel into Pgh, the tunnel maintenance (causing closure or single lane) in the Squirrel Hill tunnel just before entering Pgh, and any traffic caused by other events such as games. It is not at all uncommon to have stop and go traffic for a few miles before the tunnel. </p>
<p>My son and daughter both live in the NYC area and I’ve probably done the 80/220 (99)/22 route over 10 times in the last couple of years, without any traffic issues, but then I live in Murrysville (surprising you mentioned that of all places), and don’t have any Pittsburgh tunnel delay issues to deal with. I also do the 22 route from Murrysville to Blairsville a lot for my commute if the weather is icy and I need to avoid smaller roads- probably about 35-40 mins. Generally no traffic issues other than the stop-and-gos at perhaps a dozen traffic lights.</p>
<p>I know you’ve all been waiting with baited breath too see how the drive was… The guy at the welcome station in Matamoras recommended I-80 to Rt. 28 in brookville…so that’s what we did. An interesting drive but uneventful. </p>
<p>Had a great afternoon padding around, looking forward to tomorrow!</p>