I-95 Alternatatives in FL and GA

[jwolfer]

Reading some posts about back-ups on I-95 in Delaware.  The same thing can happen in N Florida and S Georgia ( it is better since 95 is mostly 6 lanes).  But a few years ago I got off 95 coming back into Jacksonville the day befoer Thanksgiving and there was almost no one on US-17 between Brunswick and Jacksonville. 

I saw a post about people not venturing off the interstates, just following their GPS or mapquest and how true it is...the big blue and white shield is a measure of security for some.  But there are so many alternate routes at least here in the Southeast and Midatlantic. 

But for 95 you could use 17 but thern you have Brunswick and Savannah to mess with or 301 all the way up to Lake Santee in SC

[realjd]

Is it a nice drive? I've never ventured onto US-17 up that way.

[jwolfer]

Is it a nice drive? I've never ventured onto US-17 up that way.

Not a bad drive.  2 lane 45-55 Speed Limit...

[NE2]

US 1 south of St. Augustine is almost indistiguishable from I-95 at first glance. Try it out.

[Jim]

We've used US 17 a number of times as an alternative to an overcrowded I-95 from the area south of Savannah though around Yulee.  I especially like the US 17 bridge just south of Brunswick.  When there's some stop-and-go on I-95, I'd guess it takes about the same amount of time and lowers the stress level by a lot.  It's definitely a slower alternative when I-95 traffic is moving right along at 70+, but the stress reduction is still nice.

[jwolfer]

US 1 south of St. Augustine is almost indistiguishable from I-95 at first glance. Try it out.

Palm Coast is starting to build up and traffic slowing down and they also have Destination Daytona at exit 273( US1 and 95) which is packed during Bike Week and Biketoberfest.  But a nice break from 95 and its stress.  From 2003-2006 I commuted everyday from Jax to Port Orange, for much of the time I-95 was under construction and I used US1 thru Flagler County quite a bit

[NE2]

I'm thinking more of the part near exit 298. I think it passes through a park there.

[rickmastfan67]

FL-9A has always been a perfect bypass for traffic in Jacksonville if you want to avoid Downtown on I-95.

[NE2]

FL-9A has always been a perfect bypass for traffic in Jacksonville if you want to avoid Downtown on I-95.

Since they completed it in 2006...

[jwolfer]

I'm thinking more of the part near exit 298. I think it passes through a park there.

That part of US1 is 65MPH speed limit and no traffic lights between I-95 and Palm Coast Parkway.  Very nice drive and nice break from 95
Post Merge: November 27, 2010, 08:45:29 PM

FL-9A has always been a perfect bypass for traffic in Jacksonville if you want to avoid Downtown on I-95.

It really depends on the time of day.  9A (future 295 East Beltway) can get backed-up at rush hour between Baymeadows Rd(SR 152) and the Dames Point Bridge.  It was built as 4 lanes when 6 lanes would have been better.  Planners not considering the massive growth in SE Duval County( or just delay from plan to build)

[rickmastfan67]

FL-9A has always been a perfect bypass for traffic in Jacksonville if you want to avoid Downtown on I-95.

It really depends on the time of day.  9A (future 295 East Beltway) can get backed-up at rush hour between Baymeadows Rd(SR 152) and the Dames Point Bridge.  It was built as 4 lanes when 6 lanes would have been better.  Planners not considering the massive growth in SE Duval County( or just delay from plan to build)

Well, when I've been down there, I've personally never seen any backups on 9A.  But I might have traveled it at a different time during rush hour than you have.  The only time I've seen backups on 9A is when they still had the traffic lights installed @ the JTB interchange before it was fully upgraded after they got it connected to the Northern segment of 9A.

Still, the point stands that 9A is better to bypass Downtown mileage wise being 9 miles shorter than current I-295.

[realjd]

FL-9A has always been a perfect bypass for traffic in Jacksonville if you want to avoid Downtown on I-95.

When going north on I-95, I almost always take 9A. I agree that it saves a significant amount of time over just following 95 through town. Plus, that cable stay bridge is pretty cool.

[jwolfer]

FL-9A has always been a perfect bypass for traffic in Jacksonville if you want to avoid Downtown on I-95.

It really depends on the time of day.  9A (future 295 East Beltway) can get backed-up at rush hour between Baymeadows Rd(SR 152) and the Dames Point Bridge.  It was built as 4 lanes when 6 lanes would have been better.  Planners not considering the massive growth in SE Duval County( or just delay from plan to build)

Well, when I've been down there, I've personally never seen any backups on 9A.  But I might have traveled it at a different time during rush hour than you have.  The only time I've seen backups on 9A is when they still had the traffic lights installed @ the JTB interchange before it was fully upgraded after they got it connected to the Northern segment of 9A.

Still, the point stands that 9A is better to bypass Downtown mileage wise being 9 miles shorter than current I-295.

I drive it sometimes on my way to work.( Alternate route just for a change)  Almost every morning gets some back-ups southbound.  It is shorter than 295 and Dames Point Bridge is neater than the Buckman

[Charto911]

In Florida all the way to Houlton Maine and into Canada you can Take US-1 or for Florida only you can take A1A which only has minor breakups from Miaimi to anastasia island in northern Duval County. Some of the breaks are in South Beach, Palm Beach, Singer island converts to alternate a1a/us1, and the space coast has a break up.

Aside from that it's smooth sailing on the beach and an amazing tour of Florida

[jwolfer]

In Florida all the way to Houlton Maine and into Canada you can Take US-1 or for Florida only you can take A1A which only has minor breakups from Miaimi to anastasia island in northern Duval County. Some of the breaks are in South Beach, Palm Beach, Singer island converts to alternate a1a/us1, and the space coast has a break up.

Aside from that it's smooth sailing on the beach and an amazing tour of Florida

A1A is a great drive.  Especially where its not wall to wall condos like Guana River SP in St Johns County

[D-Dey65]

Most of the time when I drive through Jacksonville, I take some local State and County roads to US 17, then I jump on I-295 and go around I-95. A couple of times I didn't, just to see how FDOT was doing with the reconstruction of the I-10/I-95 interchange(They're still not done), and another time I did, because somebody recommended I take a different route which included I-95 in Jacksonville. My last drive through there at the end of June 2010 was the typical Jacksonville traffic nighmare, but only south of I-10. I was lucky I made it home that night.


As for Georgia, I never took one. I've always stayed striaght on I-95 from start to finish, unless I needed gas or something else. I have been on bus rides that go off I-95 in Brunswick and Savannah, though.

[jwolfer]

Most of the time when I drive through Jacksonville, I take some local State and County roads to US 17, then I jump on I-295 and go around I-95. A couple of times I didn't, just to see how FDOT was doing with the reconstruction of the I-10/I-95 interchange(They're still not done), and another time I did, because somebody recommended I take a different route which included I-95 in Jacksonville. My last drive through there at the end of June 2010 was the typical Jacksonville traffic nighmare, but only south of I-10. I was lucky I made it home that night.


As for Georgia, I never took one. I've always stayed striaght on I-95 from start to finish, unless I needed gas or something else. I have been on bus rides that go off I-95 in Brunswick and Savannah, though.

The 10/95 merger is complete except for landscaping.  Traffic moved much better

[rickmastfan67]

The 10/95 merger is complete except for landscaping.  Traffic moved much better

I can't wait to check it out the next time I'm in Jacksonville and get pictures.  That interchange needed to be rebuilt badly.

[roadman65]

US 17 from DeLand to Jacksonville is a nice ride. 

US 301 from Florida to Santee, SC is a great drive, but boring from Jesup, GA to Folkston, GA.  Plus in SC you all may cry at the abandoned roadside stands that are left between Orangeburg and the Savanah River that were a result of I-95 being built.  Spite the fact, US 15 and US 17 were the old roads for I-95 in Southern SC, US 301 still got effected.

[hbelkins]

Interesting ... a neighbor of mine who used to winter in Florida took I-26 to I-95 through South Carolina, although I-75 was a little closer. He preferred I-95 through South Carolina and Georgia into Florida over I-75 through Tennessee and Georgia.

[jwolfer]

Interesting ... a neighbor of mine who used to winter in Florida took I-26 to I-95 through South Carolina, although I-75 was a little closer. He preferred I-95 through South Carolina and Georgia into Florida over I-75 through Tennessee and Georgia.

depends where you are going in FL.  My wifes dad lives in New Castle, IN.  He takes 95-26-40 to Knoxville in the summer but in the winter he takes 10-75 to Knoxville.  I like going through the mountains on 40 for scenery but it is not fun with ice/snow.  (and as a roadgeek you get to go thru 2 more states )  75 in South Georgia goes on forever and ever so I like the change.  From Jax to New Castle I think the 95-26-40 routing is about 40 miles more

[1995hoo]

This thread seems like the ideal place for a question that's been running around in my mind lately involving Christmastime traffic on I-95. The Wednesday before Christmas we're driving down to Florida to visit my wife's sister for a week (Space Coast area), returning a week later on the Auto Train. Anybody have a sense for what I ought to expect in terms of southbound traffic on I-95 at that time of year and whether I ought to be prepared to go a different way? I've never been south for Christmas because all my relatives lived in New York when I was growing up, although I did drive to Jacksonville a few days after Christmas in 1991 for the Gator Bowl.

I have a feeling my wife quite understandably won't be willing to put up with going around via Atlanta because it adds at least 200 miles over the direct I-95/I-295 route, but the notion of taking US-29 down through Lynchburg to Greensboro, then I-85 to I-77 to I-26, has crossed my mind because that's only 50 miles further. I suppose another variant from Greensboro would be to drop south on US-220 and US-52, returning to I-95 around Florence, and that's 30 miles further than I-95.

I should note that while I have no problem with the notion of doing the 860 miles from home to either my sister-in-law's house or to the Gaylord Palms in Orlando where we're meeting some other relatives on December 22 (seriously, the distance to the Gaylord is one mile longer than the distance to my sister-in-law's place near Viera), my wife is not sure she's willing to go that far in a single day, as she was getting sick of the road after we went 734 miles in a straight shot from Green Cove Springs to home back in July. So I have to consider the issue of the potential for an overnight stop as well, and if we stop overnight then I need to be able to make a reasonably easy shot down to the Disney area on Thursday morning.

I have no objection to taking non-Interstates, although the prospect of going through small towns in South Carolina or Georgia always makes me wary of speedtraps.

Anyone have any thoughts? I guess the factors that enter most into my mind are where I ought to expect the worst of any traffic backups on I-95 and how severe I ought to expect them to be. Obviously Christmas travel gets a bit more spread out compared to Thanksgiving where everyone goes on the same two or three days, so I guess that helps.

Thanks in advance.

[realjd]

My wife and I drive north for Christmas most years from Melbourne to Fort Wayne, IN. We usually go up I-95 to I-26 to I-40 to I-75 to US-30. I like that drive much better than going through ATL.

Traffic on 95 isn't a problem. It's moderately heavier than usual but nothing to be worried about. I will advise you to take SR-9A around the east side of JAX instead of going through on I-95. It saves at least 15 minutes and is a much easier drive. Plus you get to drive over a cool bridge.

[1995hoo]

My wife and I drive north for Christmas most years from Melbourne to Fort Wayne, IN. We usually go up I-95 to I-26 to I-40 to I-75 to US-30. I like that drive much better than going through ATL.

Traffic on 95 isn't a problem. It's moderately heavier than usual but nothing to be worried about. I will advise you to take SR-9A around the east side of JAX instead of going through on I-95. It saves at least 15 minutes and is a much easier drive. Plus you get to drive over a cool bridge.

Thanks. I'll remember that about 9A unless we go visit my wife's friend in Green Cove Springs again, in which case we'd probably go around via I-295 since she really lives northwest of that town.

[rickmastfan67]

I will advise you to take SR-9A around the east side of JAX instead of going through on I-95. It saves at least 15 minutes and is a much easier drive. Plus you get to drive over a cool bridge.

I'll second this (just watch out for the signage @ I-95 Exit #362, "FL-9A South" might in the future be renumbered as "I-295 Beltway East").  It's also 9 miles shorter than current I-295 (Future name: I-295 Beltway West).

I-295: 35 Miles
FL-9A: 26 Miles
I-95: 25 Miles