directions from Princeton to Yale, avoiding NYC

Parents Forum
21

<p>I'm late to the party here, but I say:</p>

<p>Route 1 north from Princeton to the Garden State Parkway (not worth getting on the NJ Turnpike for 4 miles).</p>

<p>North on the Garden State Parkway to the end, in NY. Turn right (east).</p>

<p>Go over the Tappan Zee Bridge.</p>

<p>Right after the bridge, get on the Cross-County Expressway. Take it until it ends at I-95, turn north.</p>

<p>Get off at exit 47.</p>

<p>This is simple, and shouldn't have terrible traffic unless you are doing it between 7-9:30 am or 4-6:30 pm. Without traffic, it should take you about 2-2:30.</p>

22

<p>It's actually more like 25 miles from Exit 10 (Edison) to Exit 16 (GW Bridget), not 4 miles.</p>

<p>Garden State Parkway will also put you a bit further west than 9W. 9W puts you right onto the Tappan Zee.</p>

<p>If you do end up going on the Garden State, be prepared to stop every couple of miles to pay a toll. These toll booths periodically cause traffic to back up, so you might want to allow a little bit of extra time on this route. On the NJ Turnpike, you pay when you leave the turnpike.</p>

<p>If you do decide to take the Cross-County Expressway, be mindful that you will be heading south to get to it from 287, and then when you get to I-95, you will be heading back up north, where you will intersect with 287 again. You will get to see some other towns in Westchester with this route however.</p>

23

<p>small point, but GSP doesn't have that many toll booths anymore because alternate booths have been removed in either direction. And with exact change (since rental will be lacking EX Pass) there is not that much of a backup at the booths that remain. Note too that if one is taking the Tappan Zee one takes the Parkway north, making the switch from the Turnpike at Exist 10 (Woodbridge).</p>

24

<p>Just to add--exact change is easy if you remember to have a bunch of quarters and dimes--most tolls are 70 cents; getting on might be 25 or 35. I have a dime spot and a quarter spot in my car cuz i'm up and down the GSP fairly often and am still an EZPass holdout (though my resolve is weakening.)</p>

25

<p>I meant Cross-Westchester Expressway -- I-287 -- not the Cross-County Parkway, which is nowhere near the Tappan Zee. Jeepers, a little logic!</p>

<p>I've never understood taking the Palisades Parkway from the NJ Turnpike up to the Tappan Zee, because half the time the NJ Turnpike is backed up long before you get to the exit for the Palisades Parkway. Yes, the Garden State has the toll booths, but there are only three of them in the stretch you travel, and since the advent of EZPass they are a lot less crowded. I did that drive yesterday; it was fine.</p>

<p>My reference to 4 miles on Route 1 was to the difference between getting on the Turnpike at New Brunswick, and then getting off two exits later at the Garden State, or just staying on Route 1 (probably a little more than 4 miles) until it hits the Garden State. Probably faster on the Turnpike, but not a significant time saving. I've never thought it made sense, heading north from Princeton, to try to get over to the Turnpike before New Brunswick. But maybe I'm wrong on that. Coming south, it makes a big difference, because if you stay on the Turnpike to exit 8A you get caught in the perpetual traffic jam where it goes from six lanes to three.</p>

<p>Also, re the advice of an earlier poster to go over the George Washington Bridge and to take the Henry Hudson Parkway north -- the last two times I did that, I got caught in a 30-minute-plus back up at the little bridge between Manhattan and the Bronx. It was ridiculous -- just an awful way to get anywhere.</p>

26

<p>
[quote]
Also, re the advice of an earlier poster to go over the George Washington Bridge and to take the Henry Hudson Parkway north -- the last two times I did that, I got caught in a 30-minute-plus back up at the little bridge between Manhattan and the Bronx. It was ridiculous -- just an awful way to get anywhere.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>For what it's worth, I've taken that bridge at least 100 times and there was significant traffic only once -- on the first night of Passover, which is always a bad traffic day in the NYC area.</p>

<p>The fact is that there is no highway in the NYC area where you can be sure not to get stuck in traffic, even if it's 2 am on a Thursday morning. Whenever you are approaching NYC, the best practice is to listen for a traffic report on the AM radio. Either CBS; 1010 WINS; or Blumberg.</p>

<p>But anyway, I concur that if you really want to avoid NYC and don't mind driving an extra 45-60 minutes, you may as well take the Garden State Parkway to 287. And hope that there isn't an accident on the Tap or the X-Westchester.</p>

27

<p>I take the NJ TUrnpike to the Palisades every day to get D to school. It is very, very rare to have a backup if you travel early. Only at afternoon rush hour, which the OP will not be hitting, have I faced problems. Or if an event is letting out from the Meadowlands. That's when the Garden State Parkway is the best choice. Again, it is faster to get off the Turnpike after the toll & get on Rt.46, heading to Palisades Park. (The exit ramp will fork -- bear right.) This leads to Fort Lee & the 9W or Palisades Parkway choice, both of which head to 287 (NYS Thruway) into the Tappan Zee.</p>

<p>Tolls are not a headache on the northern end of the Garden State anymore. It's just a longer route.</p>

28

<p>I was leaning toward the 9W route gbesq suggested, but it was pouring down rain and the GSP route seemed like it would be less stressful (fewer turns). GSP was fine. I would have happily cut off a couple miles on rte 1.</p>

29

<p>Take Rt 1 north from Princeton and interesect the NJ turnpike in New Brunswick using NJ RT 18 to jump the 1 mile gap between them. It is about 12-15 miles north of PRinceton where you take 18 over to the TUrnpike, which is I-95. North. FOLLOW THE SIGNS TOWARDS THE GWB, and NOT THE ONES TO THE LINCOLN TUNNEL. </p>

<p>As you draw parallel with NYC, you will come up to the interchange with I-80. TAKE I-80 WEST(this backtracks a few miles) and in about 7 miles or so take the Garden State Parkway NORTH. </p>

<p>About 15 miles north on the Garden State Parkway, you merge into I-287/87 heading East towards the Tappan Zee bridge. Cross the bridge, stay to the left after you clear the tolls on the far side of the bridge, and merge left onto 287 which is the cross westchester expressway. There is a lot of construction there and several places where you need to keep your speed under control if you have a heavy foot.</p>

<p>As you proceed East on 287 past White Plains, you will have a choice of how to proceed up towards New Haven. a) Merritt Parkway north b) I 95 North. They essentially run parallel to each other about 4 miles apart. There is no truck traffic on the Merritt, but it can back up from volume just a bad as 95. The Merritt runs through the back country of Greenwich and is heavily wooded. I95 runs along the coast and is less secenic, but perhaps more informative of what is around you. </p>

<p>If you take the Merritt, get off of 287 at the Htuchinson parkway exit just past white plains, and take the Hutch North.....This "turns into" the Merritt at the state line. The Merritt will run all the way to to New Haven (name changes over to the WIlbur Cross Parkway eventually), and you can come into New Haven the "back way" past the Yale Bowl by taking the Merritt all the way to exit 57 (CT rt 34) or 59 (Whalley Ave).</p>

<p>If you insist, you can jump back over to I95 in Milford at exit 54 JUST AFTER YOU CROSS THE SIKORSKY BRIDGE.</p>

<p>If you prefer I95 all the way up the CT coast, just take 287 until it terminates into I95, and take I95 north all the way to New Haven.</p>

<p>I doubt you will be able to make many adjustments on the fly, but the best traffic reporting is AM WINS 1010 with reports on the "1" s of the hour, every 10 minutes. In CT WEBE westport FM 107.9 will have some updates on 95 and the Merritt parkway.</p>

<p>NYC has a lot of variance in its traffic backups. If it were clear, Id probably follow the GWB to 9W north route suggested earlier, but I think the Tappan Zee is less prone to error. You can still end up sitting in traffic. If it is clear, it will take you about 3 hours to get to New Haven from Princeton. In any case, see if you can clear either the Merritt or i95 up the CT coast before 4PM. Otherwise you are quite likely to be sitting for a while. (This means don't stop for lunch).</p>