Metropark/Iselin to Princeton commute - Route 1 (Edison, New Brunswick: for sale, house)

[vidyut]

We are relocating from the midwest to the NYC/NJ area (my spouse will join work in Princeton and I close to Grand Central in Manhattan). We are thinking of living in Metropark/Iselin or Edison or Woodbridge areas.

My spouse works near the Route 1/College Rd area in Princeton, and Google maps shows a travel time of about 35 minutes on Route 1.

I have heard though that Route 1 is hellish. My question is - is this in peak hours in the direction of the peak traffic? That is, is the rush towards NYC in the morning and away from it in the evening?

Also is the turnpike an alternative?

Thanks in advance.

[BobKovacs]

35 minutes would be your commute time at 2am. During rush hour, that commute will be at least an hour, with the time getting longer as you get closer to 8am. The afternoon commute is typically worse- I'd expect the better part of 1.5 hours.

The turnpike is somewhat of an option, though it won't really save you any time, and will actually be longer mileage-wise, as you'll have to cut across from the Turnpike to Route 1.

If you're interested in some info on a house for sale in Iselin, PM me.

Bob

[kort677]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

35 minutes would be your commute time at 2am. During rush hour, that commute will be at least an hour, with the time getting longer as you get closer to 8am. The afternoon commute is typically worse- I'd expect the better part of 1.5 hours.

I don't think it's that bad, even on the very worst of days it shouldn't be over an hour, and she will learn some back road tricks that can be used when things are bad.
his issue is that the grand central area is not the easiest place to get to from NJ.

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

The turnpike is somewhat of an option, though it won't really save you any time, and will actually be longer mileage-wise, as you'll have to cut across from the Turnpike to Route 1.

It's not really an option because it doesn't bring you close to princeton, like I said, there are ways around rt 1.

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

If you're interested in some info on a house for sale in Iselin, PM me.

didn't they change the name of the area to islam?

[jersey-guy]

A major part of the traffic congestion on Route 1, going from Edison down to Princeton and back is the fact that Rt 1 goes from 3 lanes to 2 lanes as you enter the South Brunswick area in both the north and south direction. Many a time I've come down Rt 1 from New Brunswick during commuter rush and, if it's after 5:00, it's a pretty sure bet you're going to creep through heavy traffic where the 3 lanes merge down to 2 going from North into South Brunswick. And it's no better going in the opposite direction as you come up from Princeton and enter SB right after Forrestal Center. Compounding that is what seems like an inordinate number of traffic lights on Rt 1 all through the SB area, which really plays havoc with keeping the traffic that has already merged, moving along. Until the state makes a commitment to widen Rt 1 to 3 lanes and maybe try and eliminate some of the lights and make overpasses (for which they claim they don't have the money....welcome to NJ) the commuting situation on Rt1 throught that whole area during rush hour is going to be frustrating. I'd say if you can manage to travel the Rt 1 area just before/after the morning rush (7:30 to 8:30-ish) and afternoon rush (5:00 to about 6:00-ish) you might fare better.

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by kort677

didn't they change the name of the area to islam?

I don't the name change has been officially adopted, but it's been tossed around for quite some time

Bob

[ehs]

Given the situation, I believe, you are better to live at a place near Princeton Junction, and your wife can have easy commute to Princeton, and you can take Amtrak to NYC which is fast enough, and there is huge parking lot, thousands of cars ...

[kort677]

Originally Posted by ehs

Given the situation, I believe, you are better to live at a place near Princeton Junction, and your wife can have easy commute to Princeton, and you can take Amtrak to NYC which is fast enough, and there is huge parking lot, thousands of cars ...

and the waiting list for a spot at that station is many years long