Any driving tips (DC to NY - Long Island) on a Friday?

[Kerlin]

We are driving form DC to Islip, Long Island next Friday, planning to leave in the morning after rush hour. I so DREAD the long crawl up I-95!!! Once it took us almost 10 hours on a Saturday in summer. I am just wondering what a Friday during the day will be like, and if there are any tricks to avoiding the worst congestion. I don't care about the tolls.

Any experienced East Coast drivers out there with words of wisdom?

[Guest]

Ugh - sorry........

ANY commute on I-95 to NY sucks but at rush hiour????

Why are you coming and how long will you be? I'd love to meet up somewhere!

[sawenz]

Yes, avoid the L.I.E. between the hours

of 4PM and 7PM. Sorry, that's probably no help. Use the HOV lane if you can. Where on Long Island? I'm a long islander, though currently live in CT.

SUsan

[sbdeveney]

have you ever thought of doing night driving, like leaving Thurs evening around 6p or 7p....
that's about the only way I do long trips anymore.........so much easier w/ less travel, no heat from the sun and quieter kids (bec they're asleep)!

[Jeannie]

You are leaving at a bad time. You are going to wind up heading east on Long Island during rush hour on a summer Friday afternoon. It just doesn't get worse than that. The Belt and Southern State are a nightmare from 3 p.m. on. I would seriously consider sb's idea of leaving later on Thursday night if you think you can handle the overnight drive.

[jknyc]

The trick is not to do it. It will be awful.

Either leave Thursday night or Friday at 4 am.

Either option is less of a nightmare.

[Kathleen B]

Uhg, don't do it! LOL

But really, heading east on a summer Friday is the worst, everything will be backed up (LIE, Belt/Southern State) and the traffic starts earlier than during the rest of week b/c people are heading out east for weekend vacation.

Kathleen who now reverse commutes and avoids most of the traffic.

[Kerlin]

Oy, you all have me scared!

Gee, if I left at 7am maybe I would miss some of this? That would get me to Philly at around 9 and then maybe I have a shot at getting on the LIE before the afternoon commute begins. If I leave later then DH basically has no time up there.

I would LOVE to see you, Marion, but we are on a tight schedule and have zillions of family to see. Maybe we can do it another time when we come up by train?

[Jeannie]

How long does the trip take you in no traffic? I had assumed 6-7 hours but if you can get to Philadelphia in 2 hours, it seems like I overestimated.

Ideally, you need to get to the NYC area by 1 p.m., 2 p.m the latest to try and get a jump start on the Friday afternoon pilgrimage to points east. That sounds doable if you get to Philly by 9 a.m. even if you hit traffic at that point. Philly is 2.5 hours from me and Islip is another 30 - 45 min. So leaving at 7 a.m. is probably a lot better than 10 a.m.

Good luck!

[LL2]

I'm with the person who said the best hint is don't, LOL! We live in South Jersey, outside of Philly and have family in that same area. You DO NOT want to hit that area after about noon on Fridays in the summer. It will take you an hour to get over the Verrazano alone. And for that great accomplishment, you will get the privilege of creeping along at 2MPH for hours OR the dubiously better privilege of going 70 MPH with people an inch off of your front and back bumper. I prefer driving in Manhattan to driving on the Beltway, LOL!

Definitely leave as early as humanly possible. *If* you can be *though* the Philly area by 10AM (i.e., to about exit 4 on the NJT), you may be OK.

[jknyc]

Gee, if I left at 7am maybe I would miss some of this? That would get me to Philly at around 9 and then maybe I have a shot at getting on the LIE before the afternoon commute begins. If I leave later then DH basically has no time up there.

I would LOVE to see you, Marion, but we are on a tight schedule and have zillions of family to see. Maybe we can do it another time when we come up by train?

I would leave earlier than 7. I'd take the hassle of getting up early over the hassle of hours in traffic any day.

[LisaSp]

Gee, if I left at 7am maybe I would miss some of this? That would get me to Philly at around 9 and then maybe I have a shot at getting on the LIE before the afternoon commute begins. If I leave later then DH basically has no time up there.

I would LOVE to see you, Marion, but we are on a tight schedule and have zillions of family to see. Maybe we can do it another time when we come up by train?

If you leave DC at 7 am you may still hit a whole load of traffic heading up thru MD and DE (we are in Baltimore). I would try leaving at 4 am. That way you could be to NYC area about 9 a.m...