Best Route to Drive to CT at NIGHT (Woodbury: construction, to live in)

[fzpanda]

I recently moved from CT to NJ, and will have to go back to CT on a quite regular basis to take care of some unfinished business over there. I was advised by my colleagues at work to take Tappan Zee Bridge instead of GW to avoid severe traffic, which worked pretty well in the past.

What concerns me a little about the Tappan Zee path is the Saw Mill PKW portion of the trip, (it is extremely winding and the lane is very narrow), which may not be safe to take at night. Therefore, I am curious, is there any better alternatives to avoid GW/Manhattan traffic without having to take the Saw Mill parkway?

Thanks much.

[tahiti]

i don't know where in CT you need to go, but we always take the TZ to 287 to 684 to 84E. at night it's no problem.

[HalfFull]

Originally Posted by tahiti

i don't know where in CT you need to go, but we always take the TZ to 287 to 684 to 84E. at night it's no problem.

That's my route to New England too. Has been pretty reliable.

[JerzBoy]

I've found 684 to be much better/safer than the Saw Mill Pkwy. It really isn't that much longer in mileage either..

[pci2k]

Not sure what part of CT you're traveling to, but last time I traveled 684 from the Tappan Zee back in February, there was a lot of construction and potholes.
A colleague recommended bagging 684, and going straight up I-87 North/NYS Thruway to I-84 east in Newburgh. It only adds a few exrta miles, but makes up for time nicely.

[Kracer]

I always go 287N to the thruway. Then east on 84 over the Ham Fish bridge.

The 287 traffic encountered on the way to 684 is always heavy compared to the thruway N.

From Sommerville it is an hour to the thruway and 2 hours to Danbury.

I hate 84 during the late afternoon!!!!!

Of course if you want to go to coastal CT then forget this.

Parkway to the tappan zee, 95 all the way.

[tahiti]

Originally Posted by Kracer

I always go 287N to the thruway. Then east on 84 over the Ham Fish bridge.

The 287 traffic encountered on the way to 684 is always heavy compared to the thruway N.

From Sommerville it is an hour to the thruway and 2 hours to Danbury.

I hate 84 during the late afternoon!!!!!

Of course if you want to go to coastal CT then forget this.

Parkway to the tappan zee, 95 all the way.

684/84 has huge suckage potential during rush and parts of the weekend. OP said he's traveling at night, so it should be ok then.

287N to Thruway seems way out of the way to me. You also have the potential of getting stuck at the Woodbury toll.

[fzpanda]

thanks again to all these helpful replies. Much appreciated!!

[brokenaperture]

Originally Posted by tahiti

684/84 has huge suckage potential during rush and parts of the weekend. OP said he's traveling at night, so it should be ok then.

287N to Thruway seems way out of the way to me. You also have the potential of getting stuck at the Woodbury toll.

Wouldn't hit the toll by Woodbury Commons.

Depending on where in CT I'm going, I either do 287 across the Tappan Zee, hop on 684 up to 84. Or I stay on 287 and hop onto the Hutchinson (same interchange as 684) and take that into CT as it becomes the Merritt.

Both these routes have also been great for getting up to Boston at any time of day.

[manderly6]

I used to live in Norwalk, CT and traveled back to NJ a lot. I always took 287 over the Tappan Zee and either went right to 95 or got on the Merritt.