Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Rob Adams]

Perhaps you can date it to September 11, 2001.  Trucks have only been allowed on the upper level since then.

Just a theory.  I've never thought about it otherwise.

[Alex]

That could be the case, I drove across the GWB on March 15, 2000, and had little delay at the toll plaza or getting onto the bridge. The problems began midway along the span and east onto the Cross Bronx.

[njroadhorse]

Midway on the span?  Hell, the real problems start in NJ near Exit 72.

[Alps]

Depends.  If there's a Yankees game, absolutely avoid I-95 and go with 1/9/46 (or PIP if you can, but most can't).  During morning rush, bearing off at Exit 71 and going through Fort Lee can probably save you a good 20 minutes, but once you're on the bridge it tends to actually move.  (Then it stops again on the other side.)  In general, the bridge is the best-flowing part of the whole shebang because it's usually the tolls gumming things up.  Rarely do Cross-Bronx delays make it back over the bridge.  Usually you see them coming as you approach 9A and are able to make some decisions on the NY side.

[Alex]

Midway on the span?  Hell, the real problems start in NJ near Exit 72

Yes, nowadays that is the case, but it was not so in the 1990s.

[jackson1300]

The nightmare of it all is that ALL TRUCKS must use the upper level of the GWB, which makes it an absolute nightmare if you drive an 18-wheeler (such as myself), and are trying to either merge over to exit onto the 87/Deegan Expwy, or trying to exit off the Deegan (from either direction) and IMMEDIATELY merge over two to three lanes to make the upper level ramps to the GWB. That interchange is beyond dangerous to say the least.  I know whenever I have to go into NYC or Long Island, I never use the GWB, due to price and traffic and driving conditions.  I always use the Goethals Br to the Staten Isl Expwy to the BQE, or if I go to CT then I'll use the Newburgh-Beacon Br and use I-84 across.  The point is that the stretch of I-95 from the GWB Toll Plaza in NJ to the Bruckner/Whitestone interchange needs at the least rehabbing of pavement and signage, and the approaches to the GWB and Deegan interchanges needs total restructuring and a totoally different interchange design.

[Truvelo]

I find the amount of potholed pavement in the US to be shocking. The worst example must be the loop from US 202/206 to eastbound US 22 near Somerville, NJ.

[njroadhorse]

I totally forgot about that area Truvelo!  That is a nightmare

[mightyace]

I find the amount of potholed pavement in the US to be shocking. The worst example must be the loop from US 202/206 to eastbound US 22 near Somerville, NJ.

Unfortunately, it can't be stopped from occurring as potholes form rapidly during winter with the freeze/thaw cycle in the northern half of the country.

While that can't be helped, many states either haven't had or haven't wanted to spend the money to do proper pothole repair and high traffic northeastern states like New York and Pennsylvania are particularly notorious for that.

[Alps]

There are some bad potholes appearing out there now.  Try driving US 1/9 Truck, especially from NJ 7 to NJ 139.  I hit two or three HUGE ones (several feet across, several inches deep) while trying to avoid other ones.

[akotchi]

Quote from AlpsROADS:
There are some bad potholes appearing out there now.  Try driving US 1/9 Truck, especially from NJ 7 to NJ 139.  I hit two or three HUGE ones (several feet across, several inches deep) while trying to avoid other ones.

I was just up there twice in the last week.  Many of the roads in that area are terrible, especially going further south toward Newark Airport.  The heavy concentration of trucks in that area just eats the roads up and spits them out.

[Truvelo]

Going back to the issue of congestion on the GWB, here's a picture I took on the approach displaying 5 minutes for both the upper and lower levels which was hopelessly optimistic.

[yanksfan6129]

When it says five minutes, it means no delay. It doesn't look like there is any traffic in that photo: how long did it take you to get to the toll barrier?

[Truvelo]

The problem wasn't at the toll barrier but at the other end of the bridge where the traffic stopped moving.

[ctroadgeek]

A big factor in this route is timing. If you always hit the Cross Bronx at a bad time, of course it will seem as though it's "always" congested, when that's not the reality. I'm not saying you'll ever go 70 on it, but, it's not always a crawl either.

I used to drive from VA to CT and back once ever few weeks, and this is the route that I found to be the least painful through the NYC metro area.

• On the NJTP heading north, take the exit for U.S. 46 East (you'll eventually reconnect with the I-95 to cross on the GWB)
• Cross the GWB on the Lower Level (makes the next part easier)
• Take the exit for I-87 Major Deegan going north
• Take the exit for the Cross County Parkway going east
• The Cross County merges with the Hutch, merge with it to continue east
• Cross the NY/CT state line and road changes into the Merritt Parkway CT-15
• The Merritt turns into the Wilbur Cross until you take exit 68 to merge on I-91 north

This is the route that I have found the best luck with, although using U.S. 46 is purely optional, but can be helpful if traffic is bad in northern New Jersey. You avoid the frustrating traffic on I-95 within Connecticut, traffic at the I-91/I-95 interchange in New Haven, and a toll on I-95 in New York (if you are going north). Many of the other suggestions do work, but they add a lot of miles, and traffic can be bad on the Tappan Zee as well.

[Chris]

^^ So this:

[ctroadgeek]

^^ So this:

Yes, that's exactly it.