Please help me with a better route from Surprise to Phoenix! (Tempe: lease, houses)

[sweetmebri23]

Hi All,

Everyone has always been so helpful on here, so I thought I would ask you wonderful folks for some help in finding my way to work! I finally moved here and love the area I am living in! My only problem is I need to find a quicker way to get to work. I live in Surprise. Mapquest lists the mileage from my house to JCL on 225 East Dunlap as only 18 miles. My problem is that it's taking me an hour or more to travel 18 miles! I live off of Bell and Westpoint Pkwy. Mapquest tells me to take Grand to Olive and then onto Dunlap. There are so many lights and SO much traffic! Those few miles turn into a long, boring 1 hour or more commute!

I would appreciate if any of you could suggest a better route. I have looked on mapquest, google and yahoo and they all give the same directions. Someone told me to get on 101 South and then go to I-17 and get off on Dunlap. I tried that but really got lost! Is that really a way to get there? Someone else said go 101 South and then I-10 East and get off on 7th street. I tried that and I think I ended up going like 40 miles out of the way! Everyone else I asked at work, had no idea how to get back and forth except to use Grand. I would greatly appreciate if anyone could suggest alternate routes. I have only been here a couple of days, and I am very directionally challenged! If you are kind enough to give me instructions, please make them as simple as possible! I have already been lost too many times and I just got here! As soon as I recover financially from the expense of moving cross country, I am buying one of those navigational things for my car!

Thanks So Much!

[micrguy]

Now you know why the houses in Surprise are much less expensive than in other areas of Phoenix. It's a pain in the rear if you have to drive into Phoenix for work. I know lots of people who bought their first house in Surprise because it was cheap, only to sell as soon as they have a little equity and move back to Phoenix.

Have you tried going 101 North to I-17 and then going south to Dunlap?

[AksarbeN]

I’m so sorry; you are just like the hundreds or thousands of others who want a nice home living in the suburbs. I fully understand the problem of why people want to live outside the Phoenix area but it’s a nightmare when you have to drive back into the city to go to work each day.

There just isn’t any good route other then for you to get onto the 101 to the I-17 and exit at Dunlap. There are no other routes! City surface streets will take you even “longer” because you’ll wait for 5-10 minutes at each intersection and traffic light.

Have you tried changing the hours you work so you’ll be ahead of or behind of the rush hours? Sometimes only 15-20 minutes can help one way or the other. Next best thing is to find housing near the work location. You’ll save money on gas, and you’ll save time.

I don’t think there are any bus routes or lightrail that far out in your area yet. It may be years before there’s a bus.

[HX_Guy]

I think you might have gone the wrong way on the 101 which is why you got lost.

Take Bell Rd to the 101 NORTHBOUND. The 101 will take you to the I-17 (You'll pass Union Hills, 75th Ave, 67th, 59th, 51st, 35th...so you know you're going the right way). When you reach the I-17, take that SOUTHBOUND to Dunlap, exit at Dunlap and make a left toward 2nd St where the hospital is.

If you go to work during rush house, the 101 may be very slow. The I-17 won't be so bad since you will exit at Dunalp, it slows down a lot after that.

[sweetmebri23]

I moved here through a Nursing Recruiting Co. They are the ones that suggested I live in the Surprise area. They said so many other Nurses relocated here and it wasn't a bad commute from Surprise to Phoenix! Well, I don't know what they are used to, but I have a lot more valuable thtings to do with my time than sit in traffic for hours!

Thanks to the ones that cleared up the 101 way. I did get on the 101 South, so maybe that is why I got lost as heck! Since I know the way now, I will try that tomorrow! My regular shift will be 7pm-7am, but for the first couple of weeks I have to go to orientation 8a-5pm. I guess if I survive the 1st 2 weeks, it will be a miracle! I signed a 2 year contract with the hospital, but I just leased out here for one year! I am so glad I went the lease route and didn't buy way out here! It is lovely here though, and you are so right about the housing prices!

Well, thanks everyone. You all are the greatest!

[sablebaby]

Friday commute should be a lot better.

Your regular hours will be just fine! That will cut your commute time probably in half. That's great!!!

That's funny that they reccomended Surprise, geez it's just so far away from JCL! Surprise really wouldn't be all that bad if you never had to leave for work.

[MotleyCrew]

Nice to see someone finally make it over here. Hang in there, I understand that they are planning more hospitals over on the west side. My husband commutes to Tempe from Peoria every day. He will eventually find something over here.

[sweetmebri23]

Hi All,


I drove the route you gave me (101 Northbound and 1-17 Southbound) to work today and it was wonderful! I cruised right on down the hwy, and even though it was a longer distance, it was a MUCH shorter drive time! Many thanks for the directions! My problem was on the way home! I took 1-17 North towards Flagstaff, but when I got to the 101, I was expecting to see 101 north or south, instead I saw east and west! I figured since I took 101 North to get there, I would need to take 101 South to get home, but NO, that would have been too easy for this dumb-dumb! I kept driving thinking I would eventually run into the 101 south and I got really lost again! Please tell me the correct route to come home from JCL (North Mountain 225 E Dunlap )to Surprise. I live off of West Point Pkwy and Bell in the West Pointe Subdivision.

I am very directionally challenged. I am dyslexic, so I think that is part of my problem! I hate trying to find my way around a new city, but you all have been very helpful, now PLEASE just tell me how to get home!!!!!!!!

Thanks!

[sablebaby]

I'm glad it worked out!

Now on the way home, take I-17 Northbound to 101 WEST to Bell. Once you figure out which direction you need to be going to get home (or anywhere) you'll be fine.

[AksarbeN]

Originally Posted by sweetmebri23

Hi All,


I drove the route you gave me (101 Northbound and 1-17 Southbound) to work today and it was wonderful! I cruised right on down the hwy, and even though it was a longer distance, it was a MUCH shorter drive time! Many thanks for the directions! My problem was on the way home! I took 1-17 North towards Flagstaff, but when I got to the 101, I was expecting to see 101 north or south, instead I saw east and west! I figured since I took 101 North to get there, I would need to take 101 South to get home, but NO, that would have been too easy for this dumb-dumb! I kept driving thinking I would eventually run into the 101 south and I got really lost again! Please tell me the correct route to come home from JCL (North Mountain 225 E Dunlap )to Surprise. I live off of West Point Pkwy and Bell in the West Pointe Subdivision.

I am very directionally challenged. I am dyslexic, so I think that is part of my problem! I hate trying to find my way around a new city, but you all have been very helpful, now PLEASE just tell me how to get home!!!!!!!!

Thanks!

From the JCL to Surprise: west on Dunlap to I-17, north (R-turn) onto the I-17 to the 101 “west” entrance, 101 west until you find Bell exit, west (R-turn) onto Bell Rd. to Surprise area.


You are reminding me of my wife and her driving handicaps, she too would do just as you did. Hang in there for a little while and you’ll get use to the drive. Your routes on the Bell Rd, 101 and I-17 to Dunlap will become easier as times goes on.

After a while you may find from time to time that the I-17 (aka Black Canyon Rd) can become a “parking lot” at times; an alternate route to/from JCL is on 7th street to and from the 101. Don’t mix it up with 7th Ave. now! You can exit/enter 101 and use 7th street to Dunlap. This surface street will get busy at rush hours but it’s just another route to keep in mind.

Ideally it would be nice if you could transfer and work at the other JCL hospital located at the I-17 interchange with the 101 on the north side of Phoenix. This location will cut off some of your commute time going down to Dunlap.

FYI ~ It took me an hour to drive the same route you are using yesterday in non-rush hour traffic. I had to make a visit to the Sun City Grant near the 303 loop which is near or in Surprise, and I was leaving from the Moon Valley area at Central Ave. & Thunderbird Rds which is just north of the JCL and the North Mnt. Preserve.