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We have a lot of family south of here and will want to cross into south Jersey and below somewhat frequently.
Having just moved here, we had our 1st experience with the 95 north and the GW Bridge last night at 10:30pm, and it took us over 1.5 hours to go less than 5 miles into NY (so our 1.5 trip south ended up taking 3 hours on the return trip in the middle of the night). There HAS to be a better way than this. My friend crossed over last week around 1pm and it took her over 3 hours to go that stretch. What a disaster...the lanes are all over the place, people were honking left and right and there was zero order. I fully expected people to start overturning cars at any moment.
Mapquest and Garmin won't let me go around it, no matter how many times I try to avoid it. We are going from Mamaroneck if that matters. Please help! Thanks.
We always take the Tappan Zee. After one particularly horrific trip when we took the Cross Bronx and the GW Bridge we swore that we would never EVER drive that way EVER again. It might be longer but in general will save you time in the end.
Oh, how I miss it! What you describe is your life from now on. The first thing to learn is you will be close enough to other cars to read what they're reading in their cars. How do you expect to get all those lanes merged.They won't hit you. Trust me! While I haven't been back there in a long time, I can't imagine going the Verrazano or Tappan Zee route is going to be any less stressful. You're a New Yorker now! Show it! Remember the proper sequence on the highway is; gas, brake horn. Or is it the other way around. I hope you still don't have out of state plates on your car. The natives go for the kill
Don't use GW if you're driving peak times (sunday night, holidays etc.) I'd definitely use the TZ bridge as well. Also 9 runs parallel up most of NJ along the Garden state if that's back up. May or may not save time but at least with the traffic it's way more pleasant to be moving along then just to sit on the highway...
Definitely take the Tappan Zee to the Cross Westchester to the Hutch. It's much easier than the GWB when there are any sort of delays. You can divert at 287 in NJ (near the Amboys), but you need to know the status of the Hudson Crossings, which can be a challenge with the traffic reports.
I have gotten stuck in backups forecast for 40 minutes, which are about the time I'd spend skirting the delay, only to end up sitting for nearly three hours because of an accident that occurred in the backup. And, generally, if the tunnels are bad, the bridge can only get worse, because people will divert to the GWB and then take the HH Parkway/WSH downtown.
If you're in NNJ, and can access the Palisades Parkway, it's generally free-flowing, and gets you north to the Tappan Zee.
The Verazzano is even worse, I agree, by the time you get to it, because you have the Long Island traffic with which to contend. It's traffic to LI, and from LI through Queens and into The Bronx. The Hutch can be slow here, but 95 can be the worst option, as the Cross Bronx merges with it, and it's the truck route. It can be bad well into Southern Connecticut, when the Hutch has minor delays.
If you're headed north on the Turnpike, and want to divert to 287, tell the GPS that you want to go to Morristown via Metuchen and Basking Ridge. Follow 287, and when you get to Franklin Lakes, 287 heads north to the NYS border, crossing at Suffern, a bit west of the Garden State, where the Thruway (87) and 287 meet. You want to stay on 287 east, toward Nyack. The Garden State Parkway will merge a few minutes east, and then it's towns in Rockland County. This route can seem like it's a longer distance, which it is, but it can save a lot of time, and beats sitting in choked Turnpike/GWB traffic.
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All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
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Thanks.
