Leaving Long Island w/o paying toll (Boston, Hudson: to live in, restaurants)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Are there any ways to get out of Brooklyn to the mainland without paying a bridge toll? I am planning to live in Brooklyn while making many road trips to points north (new england) and some south (DC) and would like to know if there is a smart (i.e., cheap) way as well as an expensive way to get off Long Island. If there's no free route, what's the cheapest?
You can go to Manhattan over the Brooklyn or Manhattan Bridge, then take the Third Avenue Bridge to the Bronx, but is it REALLY worth all that time to save a few dollars?
You can get from Brooklyn to Manhattan on any of three bridges(Brooklyn,Manhattan,Williamsburg) and you can get from Manhattan to The Bronx and then into Westchester or Connecticut without a toll.
You can't get to DC without paying a toll to cross to Staten Island or to cross the Hudson to New Jersey.
As Viralmd points out,however,it is simply not worth the time.Going over a bridge and into to Manhattan to get to The Bronx would add about an hour(maybe more at times) to you trip to Boston or wherever.Since the toll is $5.00 you would have to decide if that is all your time is worth.
Using the alternatives will leave you burning more gas money than you would pay on the toll. You can try it if you like, but I don't think it would be an efficient use of money.
Williamsburg Bridge and Holland Tunnel if your going south i guess. My parents use it to commute from Allentown PA to JFK daily. But it seems to add on a hour plus to your commuting time. I don't think its worth it. They do, but then again they commute from Allentown to JFK everyday so I'm sure there missing some screws in their head. Haha
Are there any ways to get out of Brooklyn to the mainland without paying a bridge toll? I am planning to live in Brooklyn while making many road trips to points north (new england) and some south (DC) and would like to know if there is a smart (i.e., cheap) way as well as an expensive way to get off Long Island. If there's no free route, what's the cheapest?
you're in a car already....who cares? you're already paying for gas....take public transportation if paying tolls is going to be a hassle for you, as its virtually unavoidable for out-of-state trips.
__________________
"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
Well, depending on what part of Brooklyn you are in, you need to tak the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, or get to Queens and take the Queensboro Bridge (All of these bridges are free)
Then to New England: Once you have crossed over one of those bridges you will need to get on FDR Drive North
Follow FDR Driv for a LONG Time uptown, It technically becomes Harlem River Drive, So get off at Exit 18 "Willis Avenue" for the Willis Avenue Bridge to the Bronx (Tricky exit so watch signs and which correct lane to be in.
After crossing Willis Ave Bridge road will split (straight or right), pick "right", and you will eventually hit E. 133rd St (aka Bruckner Blvd. at this point), so you turn right on 133st(Bruckner) continue straight about three blocks where YOU continue on Bruckner Blvd turns LEFTISH (because E133 ST separates here straightward) Youll go under a tunnel and then you'll be directly beneath the Bruckner Expressway till about E. 138th St.. You want to be in the right lane where you will split from Bruckner Blvd (Below) to an upward ramp that brings you to Bruckner Expressway.
Once on the Bruckner Expressway follow through south to Central Bronx Area, where you need to follow the signs for "Hutchinson River Parkway Northbound" (because I-95 New England Thruway has tolls)
Hutchinson River Parkway will take you into Connecticut (Officially New England) where it is called "Merritt Parkway (Route 15)"
ALTERNATE: When you cross the Willis Bridge to the Bronx from FDR DR/Harlem River Drive, take I-87 North (Major Deegan Expressway) up to Westchester County, where you can take the "Cross County Parkway" East, THEN get on the Northbound Hutchinson River Parkway.
*** To get to DC, still get to Manhattan first by the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, or Williamsburg Bridge (Which are all free), then Cross the Holland Tunnel into New Jersey (which is free westbound, but there is a toll Eastbound which is pretty much unavoidable from DC)
Once through the Holland Tunnel and in New Jersey, follow signs for the "Pulaski Skyway (US1/US9/West Rt 139)" (It is a leftward split I believe) because to the right is the I95 Turnpike (expensive)
After about 5 miles or so on the Pulaski Expressway Take I-78 West
I agree with everyone else, and I'm someone who drives all over the city. It's much more efficient a use of time and money to pay the toll, unless you're traveling at an extremely off-peak hour.
To avoid tolls getting to DC, for example, you have to go all the way to I-81 South, and then you have to take that to Harrisburg, where you need to pick up Route 15 headed toward Gettysburg. Then, you have to take Route 15 to Frederick, MD and I-270 South to get to DC. This adds more than an hour to the trip, and makes sense at times when the Jersey Shore and Delaware Shore traffic are horrendous. It has taken me three hours extra, literally, between Manhattan and DC on certain evenings in the summer when the Turnpike and I-95 are parking lots. You can also take various routes near the Turnpike and I-295 in New Jersey, for example, and cross the Delaware in the Philadelphia region, but it's not going to save time if the traffic is bad, since the feeder routes will likely also have issues.
There are other ways to be a shunpiker, however, but it involves using local routes as opposed to toll roads, which will always add to the trip. The most skilled shunpikers that I know don't hurry to their destination and explore along their route, eating at local restaurants along the way, visiting lesser known attractions. It's not merely about saving a few dollars on tolls, more a way of driving that evokes road trips in eras past. To them, the journey is as important as the destination.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
