Tolls that are both easy to avoid and add little travel time. Any of the toll bridges in Louisville are ridiculously easy to avoid. A toll being easy to avoid isn't enough to make this thread, it has to also add a negligible amount of travel time, so something like using US 74 mainline to avoid the Monroe Expressway doesn't count, since the travel time is usually twice as long on mainline 74.
Heading north on the Maine Turnpike to Portland, Exit 44 for I-295 is tolled. Exit 45, less than a mile to the north, lets you exit toll-free and drive less than a mile east to a loop ramp onto I-295. It adds 0.8 of a mile overall.
Delaware Turnpike tollbooth is pretty easy to get around.
Feels like we have had this thread already where someone always brings up dodging the Delaware Turnpike toll.
Now that all traffic lights have been eliminated on VA 7 between US 15 & VA 28, using the 7/28 combination to avoid the Dulles Greenway doesn't add any additional time.
Low-hanging fruit: Any express toll lane, by simply staying in the general-purpose lane :bigass:
Quote from: Rothman on July 08, 2021, 01:14:59 PM
Feels like we have had this thread already where someone always brings up dodging the Delaware Turnpike toll.
Yeah, I think our favorite anti-widening character did a shunpiking thread a month or 2 ago - but if I'm understanding the OP correctly, the difference here is specifically shunpikes that don't have a significant time penalty. The Delaware Turnpike is indeed easy to avoid, but involves quite a few traffic lights where if you hit one, you hit them all (and the ongoing DE 279 reconstruction is slowing things down further). I often try to combine things such as food/gas/liquor (there's a great liquor store with an amazing craft beer selection on MD 279 just west of the state line) with the shunpike to make it feel a little more worth it :nod:
There are very few times when coming from Fort Collins to my house in Aurora, E-470 saves me more than 5 minutes. A lot of the time, if I-25 is backed up through Thornton, it's cheaper and just as fast to pay for the express lanes to I-270 and then get to I-70 and I-225.
Chris
Quote from: jmacswimmer on July 08, 2021, 01:35:34 PM
Now that all traffic lights have been eliminated on VA 7 between US 15 & VA 28, using the 7/28 combination to avoid the Dulles Greenway doesn't add any additional time.
Low-hanging fruit: Any express toll lane, by simply staying in the general-purpose lane :bigass:
Quote from: Rothman on July 08, 2021, 01:14:59 PM
Feels like we have had this thread already where someone always brings up dodging the Delaware Turnpike toll.
Yeah, I think our favorite anti-widening character did a shunpiking thread a month or 2 ago - but if I'm understanding the OP correctly, the difference here is specifically shunpikes that don't have a significant time penalty. The Delaware Turnpike is indeed easy to avoid, but involves quite a few traffic lights where if you hit one, you hit them all (and the ongoing DE 279 reconstruction is slowing things down further). I often try to combine things such as food/gas/liquor (there's a great liquor store with an amazing craft beer selection on MD 279 just west of the state line) with the shunpike to make it feel a little more worth it :nod:
Yeah, that's what I'm looking for. Shunpikes that barely make a difference in your overall route time-wise.
Using OH 2 instead of the Turnpike (I-80/90) between Toledo and Cleveland only adds 2 miles distance and 10 mins of travel time and saves you a ton of toll money. Oh yea, way less trucks too.
Quote from: SkyPesos on July 08, 2021, 03:08:33 PM
Using OH 2 instead of the Turnpike (I-80/90) between Toledo and Cleveland only adds 2 miles distance and 10 mins of travel time and saves you a ton of toll money. Oh yea, way less trucks too.
I know a guy who would sharply disagree with you, but I am not that guy. I have used OH-2 many times. Once past the traffic lights around Oregon, there's little reason to stop till downtown Cleveland.
Quote from: renegade on July 08, 2021, 04:47:05 PM
Quote from: SkyPesos on July 08, 2021, 03:08:33 PM
Using OH 2 instead of the Turnpike (I-80/90) between Toledo and Cleveland only adds 2 miles distance and 10 mins of travel time and saves you a ton of toll money. Oh yea, way less trucks too.
I know a guy who would sharply disagree with you, but I am not that guy. I have used OH-2 many times. Once past the traffic lights around Oregon, there's little reason to stop till downtown Cleveland.
I'll third OH 2. I also like to divert on OH 163 through Port Clinton for the scenery.
I-95 instead of Florida's Turnpike in South Florida.
I-295 instead of the NJ Turnpike.
The Yonkers toll on the NY Thruway is easily avoided on Central Park Ave and the Sprain Brook Parkway
I wouldn't consider the Louisville bridges as worthy of this thread. It's free-flowing on the Indiana side of the river, but downtown Louisville is full of traffic lights. And crossing the river on I-64 and doubling back on 265 adds too much time and mileage to be worth it, in my view.
It's easy to avoid the Mossy toll booth on the WV Turnpike, as there's a county route that parallels the turnpike between the Mossy and Pax exits. And now that the East Beckley Bypass is open, it's easy to avoid the toll booth at the US 19/Corridor L exit by taking the Bradley exit on Corridor L, then following US 19 and the bypass to I-64 to connect with I-77.
Also, I-79 and I-68 to avoid the PA Turnpike between Breezewood and New Stanton.
Quote from: hbelkins on July 08, 2021, 06:27:31 PM
I wouldn't consider the Louisville bridges as worthy of this thread. It's free-flowing on the Indiana side of the river, but downtown Louisville is full of traffic lights. And crossing the river on I-64 and doubling back on 265 adds too much time and mileage to be worth it, in my view.
US 31 coming into Louisville was pretty bad back in 2016 (when I was last there) before the new 65 bridge was even tolled. I'd rather not think about what that's like now.
Hutch Parkway to I-287 is a relatively easy shunpike for the Westchester toll on I-95 North.
Quote from: US 89 on July 08, 2021, 07:24:37 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on July 08, 2021, 06:27:31 PM
I wouldn't consider the Louisville bridges as worthy of this thread. It's free-flowing on the Indiana side of the river, but downtown Louisville is full of traffic lights. And crossing the river on I-64 and doubling back on 265 adds too much time and mileage to be worth it, in my view.
US 31 coming into Louisville was pretty bad back in 2016 (when I was last there) before the new 65 bridge was even tolled. I'd rather not think about what that's like now.
I admit to using that bridge often when I'm in Louisville, but not for shunpiking purposes, but because it's convenient. Many of my work conferences are held at the Galt House hotel, so it's easier to hop on that bridge and cross the river than it is to go to the interstate.
San Francisco Bay bridges: easy to avoid if the starting point is in the southeastern portion of the bay (Milpitas, southern Fremont)
VA-168 Chesapeake Expressway in Chesapeake, VA
Coming southbound, get off at Exit 8B, turn right on VA-168 Business, and rejoin VA-168 about 6 miles south. VA-168 Business is a rural 2 lane road with a 45-55 mph speed limit, and only 4 traffic signals, 2 of which are concentrated on the northern end, and 2 in the middle. Only adds about 2-4 minutes as opposed to the (only) 55 mph toll road which is $4 off peak, and as high as $9 during peak weekends.
I used to occasionally pay the old $3 toll, but the recent $4 hike has given me less motivation to take it anymore. I would never take it on a peak weekend.
Here's another one - the Kansas Turnpike between Kansas City and Emporia.
Take I-35 instead. No toll.
You will be on the Turnpike south of Emporia, however. But you avoid it north of there.
Quote from: SeriesE on July 11, 2021, 12:50:26 AM
San Francisco Bay bridges: easy to avoid if the starting point is in the southeastern portion of the bay (Milpitas, southern Fremont)
The shunpiking only becomes difficult when the waterway that features the toll crossings makes that 90-degree east turn to become the Carquinez Strait and, further east, part of Suisun Bay or the Delta. Everything NB is tolled there (SB is free), leading to the fact that a lot of Bay Area-to-Sacramento shunpikers simply route their NB leg through Tracy and Stockton but keep the free return leg on I-80, I-680, or even CA 160.
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on July 08, 2021, 09:08:08 PM
Hutch Parkway to I-287 is a relatively easy shunpike for the Westchester toll on I-95 North.
Not for truck drivers.
Quote from: SkyPesos on July 08, 2021, 03:08:33 PM
Using OH 2 instead of the Turnpike (I-80/90) between Toledo and Cleveland only adds 2 miles distance and 10 mins of travel time and saves you a ton of toll money. Oh yea, way less trucks too.
True that. It's one of my shunpiking routes.
Using US 41 instead of I-94 through Lake County, IL. Google has US 41 being shorter distance wise, but the number of signals and slow spots (such as the lousy section posted at 45 through Gurnee) detract from the easiness.
Quote from: index on July 08, 2021, 12:38:01 PM
Tolls that are both easy to avoid and add little travel time. Any of the toll bridges in Louisville are ridiculously easy to avoid. A toll being easy to avoid isn't enough to make this thread, it has to also add a negligible amount of travel time, so something like using US 74 mainline to avoid the Monroe Expressway doesn't count, since the travel time is usually twice as long on mainline 74.
Using I-680 to I-580 to I-205 to I-5 to Sacramento from the South Bay instead of I-680 (using the Benicia Bridge) to I-80 to Sacramento from the South Bay is a "coin flip" on time and is toll free (express lanes are available). Using CASR-84 is intrinsically shorter, but doesn't always save time and has nothing to do with tolls (you are committed to the toll free route a bit earlier, however).
I'm not sure about the timing, but CASR-37 (which is toll free) can sometimes get you to the North Bay toll free and in about the same time as the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge (I-580) which is tolled.
Quote from: michravera on July 11, 2021, 01:26:27 PM
Quote from: index on July 08, 2021, 12:38:01 PM
Tolls that are both easy to avoid and add little travel time. Any of the toll bridges in Louisville are ridiculously easy to avoid. A toll being easy to avoid isn't enough to make this thread, it has to also add a negligible amount of travel time, so something like using US 74 mainline to avoid the Monroe Expressway doesn't count, since the travel time is usually twice as long on mainline 74.
Using I-680 to I-580 to I-205 to I-5 to Sacramento from the South Bay instead of I-680 (using the Benicia Bridge) to I-80 to Sacramento from the South Bay is a "coin flip" on time and is toll free (express lanes are available). Using CASR-84 is intrinsically shorter, but doesn't always save time and has nothing to do with tolls (you are committed to the toll free route a bit earlier, however).
I'm not sure about the timing, but CASR-37 (which is toll free) can sometimes get you to the North Bay toll free and in about the same time as the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge (I-580) which is tolled.
Have some friends who live up in Lincoln who come down to San Jose regularly to see relatives; they
always use the I-5/205/580/680 routing in both directions rather than chance congestion in the Walnut Creek-Concord area as well as the construction zone at Cordelia. Also, one of them has severe acrophobia and both the Benicia and Zampa bridges literally freak her out; no bridge issues via Stockton! Nevertheless, the shunpiking aspect of it is more or less "icing on the cake" for them. BTW, they avoid I-80 even east of I-5, choosing to head up to CA 99 and then cut over to Lincoln; and according to them work on the expressway/"parkway" between 99 and Lincoln hasn't even broken ground as of yet -- apparently, according to local media, it's been delayed until about 2024 (but ROW is in the process of being acquired).
If you're coming from Detroit to Cleveland it is actually easier to get off at the OH-51 exit on I-280 than the OH-2 exit. Follow OH-51 down to OH-579 (there's a Speedway gas station on the corner) make a left and follow that back to OH-2. It's about a half mile shorter and will save you about 2 minutes.
My variation of "Sacramento to Stockton to San Jose" I used to do, since I lived closer to Sacramento State University and at one point worked in Rancho Cordova
99, 4, 5, 205, 580, 84, 680
Always did the 84 cutoff as it flowed decently well southbound, or I was going that route at night.
Interestingly from Menlo Park area heading back to Sacramento, this is about the same distance-wise as say 84-880-80-50.
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Not sure if really "shunpike" but whenever I head to the Napa area, I like taking 101-37-121 from SF instead of 80-37-29 which forces one to pay the Carquinez toll. Usually something I choose to do to avoid the traffic backups at the MacArthur Maze. The distance difference is about 10 miles total, which isn't that much for a long-distance trip.
Quote from: sprjus4 on July 11, 2021, 02:52:35 AM
VA-168 Chesapeake Expressway in Chesapeake, VA
Coming southbound, get off at Exit 8B, turn right on VA-168 Business, and rejoin VA-168 about 6 miles south. VA-168 Business is a rural 2 lane road with a 45-55 mph speed limit, and only 4 traffic signals, 2 of which are concentrated on the northern end, and 2 in the middle. Only adds about 2-4 minutes as opposed to the (only) 55 mph toll road which is $4 off peak, and as high as $9 during peak weekends.
I used to occasionally pay the old $3 toll, but the recent $4 hike has given me less motivation to take it anymore. I would never take it on a peak weekend.
I only paid this once in the four years I lived in Tidewater. I regularly used Battlefield Blvd on my way to the Outer Banks. I recommend this shunpike, especially on busy weekends when the cash booth lanes back up and Battlefield Blvd is faster unless you are paying electronically.
Quote from: TheStranger on July 11, 2021, 06:45:01 PM
My variation of "Sacramento to Stockton to San Jose" I used to do, since I lived closer to Sacramento State University and at one point worked in Rancho Cordova
99, 4, 5, 205, 580, 84, 680
Always did the 84 cutoff as it flowed decently well southbound, or I was going that route at night.
Interestingly from Menlo Park area heading back to Sacramento, this is about the same distance-wise as say 84-880-80-50.
-
Not sure if really "shunpike" but whenever I head to the Napa area, I like taking 101-37-121 from SF instead of 80-37-29 which forces one to pay the Carquinez toll. Usually something I choose to do to avoid the traffic backups at the MacArthur Maze. The distance difference is about 10 miles total, which isn't that much for a long-distance trip.
If one lives in the east part of metro Sacramento, the 4 (or even 120) to 99 option makes sense unless there's construction on 99 like there has been in Elk Grove over the past few months. As far as the CA 84 "cutoff" goes, you point your car and take your chances -- except for right now; they're doing a massive expansion/rebuild of that highway (likely to accommodate the numbers of those who choose to use that cutoff). Should be completed by summer or early fall 2022 according to projections, but it'll be a bit dicey, with occasional full closures, until then.
Quote from: sparker on July 11, 2021, 07:52:11 PM
Quote from: TheStranger on July 11, 2021, 06:45:01 PM
My variation of "Sacramento to Stockton to San Jose" I used to do, since I lived closer to Sacramento State University and at one point worked in Rancho Cordova
99, 4, 5, 205, 580, 84, 680
Always did the 84 cutoff as it flowed decently well southbound, or I was going that route at night.
Interestingly from Menlo Park area heading back to Sacramento, this is about the same distance-wise as say 84-880-80-50.
-
Not sure if really "shunpike" but whenever I head to the Napa area, I like taking 101-37-121 from SF instead of 80-37-29 which forces one to pay the Carquinez toll. Usually something I choose to do to avoid the traffic backups at the MacArthur Maze. The distance difference is about 10 miles total, which isn't that much for a long-distance trip.
If one lives in the east part of metro Sacramento, the 4 (or even 120) to 99 option makes sense unless there's construction on 99 like there has been in Elk Grove over the past few months. As far as the CA 84 "cutoff" goes, you point your car and take your chances -- except for right now; they're doing a massive expansion/rebuild of that highway (likely to accommodate the numbers of those who choose to use that cutoff). Should be completed by summer or early fall 2022 according to projections, but it'll be a bit dicey, with occasional full closures, until then.
With the 84 cutoff I feel like at night, I never ran into excessive amounts of traffic, and during the day I started using it around the time the direct link from Isabel Avenue to 580 had opened - which made it much better than the old setup of going one exit further down and backtracking!
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Another California thought:
While the entire concept of Route 73 was to allow drivers to bypass the El Toro Y from 405 south to 5 south...I feel like traffic flow at most hours there is still okay enough staying on 405 in either direction rather than getting onto the tollway.
Not sure if that applies quite as much for the 5-55-91 vs. 5-133-241-91 trajectory.
In good traffic, most of the non-ferry toll facilities in Washington can be avoided:
SR 520: I-90 works and takes about 15 more minutes with no traffic
I-405 and SR 167: Just use the non-HOT lanes (though I-405 does have the HOT lanes open to all traffic on weekends)
SR 99 Tunnel: Just take city streets, either Alaskan Way to Broad to Thomas to 7th; or 4th to Battery to 7th.
SR 16 (EB only): The only land detour requires traversing JBLM, so just pay the toll.
Quote from: TheStranger on July 11, 2021, 08:20:57 PM
Not sure if that applies quite as much for the 5-55-91 vs. 5-133-241-91 trajectory.
Since there's no direct connection from 241 to 91 express lanes, for people that's willing to pay tolls the dilemma on which route to take depends on which part of the drive they hate more, the 5-55 section or the 91?
In Bellevue, Nebraska, when the US 34 bridge was built, it made for a shorter and less time-consuming route to I-29 south than the old Bellevue toll bridge.