Rather than take the coastal route through CT, which will be a shitshow due to Memorial Day Weekend, I was thinking of taking 287N (from Basking Ridge) to 87N, then banging a right at Newburgh onto 84E and taking that to Rentschler for the lax game. Is 84 a decent bet in that part of the state? TIA.
Anyone With Local Knowledge About Route 84 Traffic from Newburgh, NY to East Hartford, CT this Saturday?
- Thread starter RutgersRaRa
- Start date
Lived in Central or Northern CT for a decade now and made several dozen trips back to Union County, NJ area (so a bit of a different part of NJ near GSP). Generally if going from NJ to Hartford area the four routes are 95, 15, 87 to 84, or 684 to 84.
From Union County, Newburgh was not a good option but if coming up 287 then it is more of a realistic option. Only once did I take the route you suggest to get back to CT. It was when the Tappan Zee Bridge area was a disaster and would take over an hour to cross that day.
I'd probably go with 684 to 84 if I had to guess for the early part of Memorial Day weekend but Newburgh might end up being better. Really depends most how on the Tappan Zee Bridge is and whether any Catskill traffic has built up on 87 North. Either route you still have to go through Danbury and Waterbury on 84 in CT but those areas are not as bad as 15 and 95 usually. Once you get through Waterbury its a pretty smooth stretch on 84 until the couple miles leading into Hartford.
I do think both I-84 options (I-87 Newburgh route or 684 Brewster route) are preferrable to 15 and 95. Both 15 and 95 can get bad during high traffic times like summer weekends.
From Union County, Newburgh was not a good option but if coming up 287 then it is more of a realistic option. Only once did I take the route you suggest to get back to CT. It was when the Tappan Zee Bridge area was a disaster and would take over an hour to cross that day.
I'd probably go with 684 to 84 if I had to guess for the early part of Memorial Day weekend but Newburgh might end up being better. Really depends most how on the Tappan Zee Bridge is and whether any Catskill traffic has built up on 87 North. Either route you still have to go through Danbury and Waterbury on 84 in CT but those areas are not as bad as 15 and 95 usually. Once you get through Waterbury its a pretty smooth stretch on 84 until the couple miles leading into Hartford.
I do think both I-84 options (I-87 Newburgh route or 684 Brewster route) are preferrable to 15 and 95. Both 15 and 95 can get bad during high traffic times like summer weekends.
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@StevieB160 Awesome info right there—thank you for taking the time to write that up! It’s looking like my original proposed route is the one I’ll take. It looks like I’ll have to allow four hours, perhaps more, depending on how bad traffic is that morning. I’m definitely staying away from 95.
Another option could be the Tappan Zee to the Merrit Plwy, but I haven't taken that route in 20 years. It used to be a nice drive , but it’s closer to the coast and might be jammed up. Anyone have thoughts on this route on Saturday morning of Memorial Day Weekend?
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I think 287 over Tap to 684 to 84 is the best bet as the other poster suggested.
Only if you want to gouge your eyes out with a spoon. 15/Merritt will likely be a disaster as a 95 alternate and it only has 2 lanes in each direction so any backups or slow moving traffic chokes things up quickly.
I live right off 287 and this route is my usual route these days to New England. So far so good. Traffic has been minimal up to Boston several times. Usually my GPS wants to take me to the Tappan Zee and up 95 but I have run into traffic so many times and I hate traffic. So far the 287 to 84 has been good to me traffic wise.
Used to take that route when my daughter lived in Boston. Only had issues once with horrible traffic.
It's really the route of choice for heading towards the Hartford area (and usually Boston too) from NJ by everyone I know for 35+ years. 95 is almost always a crapshoot.
We have traveled on the Merrit frequently the last couple of years and it can be hit or miss. The funny thing is that the GWB is often the most-preferred route by Waze, and I have to enter two legs to the Gandofini Service Area on the GSP and then Hamden, CT (where our kid goes to college). When our kid came back from college just a couple of weeks ago, he breezed home in record time at 10 p.m., making it down to Manasquan in almost 2 hours.
If time permits, I would consider leaving early (6 or 7 a.m.) and pick a great breakfast/brunch place in East Hartford (Ken's Corner Breakfast & Lunch in E Hartford is highly rated), or somewhere along the way.
Another option is to leave early and check out something else of local interest (link below to a list), or pick a place to stop along the way on the Merritt.
We learned to never plan on the 2 hour, 15 minute drive from Manasquan area to Hamden or back that we enjoy in non peak times. If leaving early is not an option, I would plan on leaving at 8 am at the latest to get there by noon should the traffic be bad.
You may also want to check the link below right before you leave and while you are en route.
Depends on the time. See above.
Yeah, I live in Westchester and have driven that route more times than I wanted heading to hockey games/skating rinks in Conn. Stay away from the Merritt if you can. Same with i95.
684 to 84 is the way I’d go to get to Hartford, having done that a hundred times as well.
EDIT: you still will hit some traffic - on the 84 east exit towards Danbury and some pockets along the way on 84 In Connecticut.
Stay away from the SawMill right now. They are doing major construction around Hawthorne/Pleasantville. The highway is partially diverted and goes down to one lane. Depending on the time of day, this can be a major problem right now.
Like others have said, I would take the Tap to 287 to 684 to 84.
4 hours ?? I have made the trip up to Farmington about a dozen times. From Piscataway it’s usually 2.5 - 2 hrs 45mins
Saturday morning on a holiday weekend I think would increase the time.
Anyone who calls it the cuomo bridge is untrustworthy! LOL!
so what's the final answer here as "the most recommended" way to do this. Seems like GWB to 95 is not the answer
LAX board? C'mon man. LOL.
I agreed to get up at 8AM for this trip because my wife wanted to go. Now I have to get up in the dark?
No good deed goes unpunished.
I agreed to get up at 8AM for this trip because my wife wanted to go. Now I have to get up in the dark?
No good deed goes unpunished.
Greatest chance of backups is 95. 84 can have them as well, but you're pretty much going to have to take one of the two. Neither the GWB or the Tappan Zee should be a problem at 9AM on a Saturday of a holiday weekend. When I drove to Boston from Bergen County years ago the least chance of backups was GSP - 87 over the Tappan Zee - 287 to 684. 684 to 84. I would avoid going up the NY Thruway to 84 on a Saturday morning of a holiday week end due to Catskill/Adirondack traffic.
Listen you can sleep in the backseat I’ll let the Mrs. chew my ear off!! HAHAHA!
Change of plans. Leaving Friday late afternoon and driving to Berlin about 20 minutes from Rentschler. Spending some quality time with my son.
Driving home after game(s) depending on traffic.
Google maps is giving me Garden State Pkwy (which I want because we are likely picking Nuts up at Metropark) to 287E to CT 15N
CT 15N. That's the Merritt. Older more winding road than 684. More prone to tie ups but it's really a day to day proposition. Everyting else is the same.