[Sngbrd94]

Hello all! We are one of the unlucky families trying to purchase a home in the current market, and have been trying for quite some time now. We are moving from out of state, though I grew up in Rocky Hill but haven’t been to CT for many years. It looks like we’ve finally found a house though it isn’t exactly where we wanted to land. We will be sending our son to school in west Hartford.


The home is in the northeast corner of Bristol, and I’m wondering if I can get some advice from folks living in the area or making this commute to see what it would realistically look like - any Waze trips I plan show me a 25 minute travel time one way. Is this what I should really expect? I see a lot of information in these forums about terrible traffic, but since I’m not going through Hartford proper, I’m hoping this will be manageable.

Any advice is so greatly appreciated.

[JayCT]

You don’t say where in West Hartford you are going so I will assume it’s to West Hartford Center.

There is no direct route between Bristol and West Hartford so the commute involves mostly local roads which can be congested. Google gives me three routes to consider. All are about 20 minutes without traffic.

The shortest involves using Meadow Road to cut across Farmington to Main Street, then north to Route 4/Farmington Avenue which you’d follow to West Hartord Center.

The second would have you go out to Route 177 in Farmington, turning right to get down to Route 6, then east to I-84 east to the Trout Brook Road.

The third also takes Route 6, but instead of getting on I-84, you continue on Route 549 to South Road north to Farmington Avenue into West Hartford Center.

It is hard to say which of these would be best during rush hour traffic. Route 4 through Farmington Center is notorious for traffic so the first route could present problems. I-84 eastbound often has accidents that backs up traffic so that could mean on days you should avoid that. That leaves Route 549 to South Road as your most reliable route.

That said, I’d start an hour before you have to be there and check Waze for the best route. It has up to the minute traffic data and see which way it sends you. Good luck. Jay

[brownedbits]

I would say a 30 minute commute is a fair estimate if conditions are "normal" (no snow, rain, accidents, etc.). Of course, this could go up depending on time of day. You will likely hit some school bus traffic on all of those secondary roads, which can increase your commute time. You don't say which part of WH you need to get to, but if you have to even think about touching Route 4 in Farmington, add more time onto your daily commute.

[CTlibrarian]

Agree with the others, you're looking at 30 minutes best case, but realistically could be more like 45 minutes or more. Rte. 6 has a ton of traffic in the morning (and evening.) If you took Morea to Meadow to Rte. 10, you then have to deal with the insanity of the Rte. 10/Rte. 4 interchange, and there is probably lots of traffic right there because of Miss Porter's School. Then you have tod inch your way along Rte. 4 past the UConn Medical Center. Once you get to UConn, the stretch of Rte. 4 from UConn to WH Center is not too bad in the morning.

[hvexpatinct]

I would plan on 40-50 minutes, since you mention traveling for school reasons and will be on the road when buses are running. The local roads between Bristol and West Hartford are sometimes only two lanes and often full of traffic lights. I have sat in more backups on route 4 than I care to count over the years.

[Sngbrd94]

Thank you all so much for the informative responses. Sounds like we may need to look into some other school options. I really appreciate your candor!