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You ever drive I-84? Didn't think so. It's a horrid, very old, piece of highway with lots of traffic, lots of construction, lots of delays.
Drive to Albany? Again, lots of traffic, steep tolls on the Mass Pike and plenty of traffic. Not to mention waaay out of the way.
If I had extra time, and wanted to avoid the worst traffic of DC, Baltimore and NYC, I'd take 95 to 26 to 77 to 81 then 84 across, east, to Hartford. From Hartford you choose, depending on where you're bound. I have not driven the part below 81, so can't comment on traffic. Keep in mind too that the worst traffic, much worse than GWB, will be on 95 between Fredericksburg VA and DC. Getting around DC is no picnic either. I know all of these routes from years of personal experience, not from the POV of a NYC hater who's never driven there.
So much depends on timing - avoiding rush hours, which can start at 3 in the PM. 95 through DC is also horrible on weekends.
Construction is a wild card, but you can find out a lot by looking at traffic on google maps, and from state highway department websites.
You ever drive I-84? Didn't think so. It's a horrid, very old, piece of highway with lots of traffic, lots of construction, lots of delays.
Drive to Albany? Again, lots of traffic, steep tolls on the Mass Pike and plenty of traffic. Not to mention waaay out of the way.
If I had extra time, and wanted to avoid the worst traffic of DC, Baltimore and NYC, I'd take 95 to 26 to 77 to 81 then 84 across, east, to Hartford. From Hartford you choose, depending on where you're bound. I have not driven the part below 81, so can't comment on traffic. Keep in mind too that the worst traffic, much worse than GWB, will be on 95 between Fredericksburg VA and DC. Getting around DC is no picnic either. I know all of these routes from years of personal experience, not from the POV of a NYC hater who's never driven there.
So much depends on timing - avoiding rush hours, which can start at 3 in the PM. 95 through DC is also horrible on weekends.
Construction is a wild card, but you can find out a lot by looking at traffic on google maps, and from state highway department websites.
Yeah, I drove 84. I didn't like it. I didn't like 95, either. I don't much like driving anywhere in Connecticut.
But getting to Boston, your options are limited, and given the traffic and crappy roads, the extra hour to run to 912M, and across to I-90 seems like a reasonable option. I have done that, and it's not too bad, really. Somewhat unrelated, but when I drive these kind of trips, I think more about what the drive is going to be like rather than how many minutes it will take.
I-81? on a trip from Savanna to Boston? That would be lot of miles out of the way, and it has its share of traffic. I've run it a couple of times, and it is not a pleasant drive, anymore.
And, I'm not a NYC hater. I love New York. I don't particularly like to drive through it to get somewhere else, though.
I guess you "Could" scoot across Staten Island and Long Island and take the Ferry over, but I don't think that's gonna save any time. Might actually be a bit more interesting for the kids, though.
Weve made that drive twice a year for the last 20 years and have tried every route available to find the right conditions.
We go up 75 to 4 and then 26 in S Carolina to 81 to avoid the major cities (Washington and NY can get ugly)
We drive until 6pm or so and arrive on the third day in the early afternoon.
95 is the most direct route but only by a couple of hours for the whole 2 1/2 day trip so we think it's well worth it to go around the congested areas.
This is THE best route! Up until 2014 I drove to Florida at least once a year. I tried to find the best route...going I-95 is hit or miss. You have a good chance of hitting traffic in Virginia, the Washington DC area, New Jersey, NYC, and CT.
Going up 81 is farther mileage wise but it is way faster than I 95. the last time I took 95 I was stuck in traffic in Jersey for a few hours. it was miserable- Never again!
Last year I drove from RI to NC using the 84-81 route and it was smooth sailing each time.....
I don't follow how, if "fidgety" kids are a concern, a three-day drive with them stuck in the car is preferable to a four hour plane flight? That's three days of fidget versus a half-day at most.
My husband's cousin is moving to Colorado from Florida next weekend. She, her two daughters, and their cat are flying. Her husband, her cousin (also moving to Colorado), and the dog are driving (one Uhaul towing a vehicle, and a vehicle). She said with one daughter being autistic and the other being under the age of 5, she was not going to bother dealing with the inevitable stress.
My husband and I are still in the planning phases of our move from Florida to NH (or Maine) and this post was super helpful. I think we'll do a Uhaul towing a vehicle with me driving the other vehicle and the two dogs. No kids to worry about so that helps.
Don't worry about the snow, the roads are clear now, and I hope (fingers crossed) we wont get any more snow. It would be pretty sad if we did, it being Spring and all. Just keep an eye on the forecast and you'll be fine, and even if you do get caught in a blizzard, your all season tires and front wheel drive car will be perfectly fine, as there are people who live here year round who don't have AWD. The roads are maintained well enough that you should be fine. My car is lightly tinted and I have never had a problem with the cops. Granted, its not darkly tinted which I'm assuming yours is. I don't know what to tell you as far as that goes.
At this point I'd be surprised if we did get a heavy snow. That said, if we get snow, just wait it out in a hotel. May take an extra day on the drive, but that shouldn't be a big issue.
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