Best Driving route Ballantyne to Southport, NC (i.e. Bald Head ferry) (Charlotte: wedding)

[Charlotte99]

Taking the family to Bald Head tomorrow morning and are trying to catch the 11:00 AM ferry (ambitious for us). We live in Ballantyne area, can people chime in with best route suggestions to Southport? We have never been but I am guessing that we take 74 East.

Thanks

[coped]

74 east all the way to sandy creek then 87 south for the last 30 minutes. It's at least 4 hours, so leave early.

[wingate20]

Originally Posted by Charlotte99

Taking the family to Bald Head tomorrow morning and are trying to catch the 11:00 AM ferry (ambitious for us). We live in Ballantyne area, can people chime in with best route suggestions to Southport? We have never been but I am guessing that we take 74 East.

Thanks

485 to exit 44 (fairview rd). Go right (obviously) on 218. It bypasses Monroe, Wingate, Marshville, etc... takes you to southport...much quicker.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...7&ie=UTF8&z=11

[pantherfan101]

+1

Taking Hwy 218 to bypass Monroe is such a time saver

[coped]

Not from Ballantyne...you would be going well north just to get back south. And if there isn't traffic when you're leaving (early saturday before 6:30 am), going through Monroe is not such a big deal. If you want to avoid most of the stoplights on 74, you can go Providence Road South and catch 84 in Weddington, then Franklin St. in Monroe, which will take you around downtown and drop you on 74 on the opposite end of Monroe.

Originally Posted by pantherfan101

+1

Taking Hwy 218 to bypass Monroe is such a time saver

[wingate20]

Originally Posted by coped

Not from Ballantyne...you would be going well north just to get back south. And if there isn't traffic when you're leaving (early saturday before 6:30 am), going through Monroe is not such a big deal. If you want to avoid most of the stoplights on 74, you can go Providence Road South and catch 84 in Weddington, then Franklin St. in Monroe, which will take you around downtown and drop you on 74 on the opposite end of Monroe.

Yes, from Ballantyne. Have you tried it? Speaking from experience, the 218 route, from ballantyne, takes off 30 minutes. It bypasses much more than just Monroe and it doesn't matter what day/time you leave.

By the way, your route above , providence,franklin st to monroe route, subtracts only 7 miles, yet it adds the stop lights in downtown monroe, wingate, marshville, etc.

[coped]

Yeah. I've tried 218, and it beats 74 during the day when the traffic on Independence is heavy through Monroe, but early AM and on weekends I still think 74 straight or 16 to 84 to 74 would be a better bet than going 20 miles up 485 just to back track on a country road like 218. Those traffic lights in Marshville and Wingate are not a big deal at any time really. I'll try it again on my next trip to Fayetteville and time it.

[wingate20]

There are just too many speed changes along with the abundance of traffic lights to warrant going that way in my eyes. It's 12 miles on 485 and regardless, the entire trip is 7 more miles....again without the starting/stopping you get on the other route. You really should try it.