Different routes between 2 metro areas depending where you leave/arrive

[SkyPesos]

Not sure if a thread has been done on this before, but I can't find any with the forums search engine. I thought of this topic after seeing this comment on the I-70 Glenwood Canyon Wildfire thread:

It depends on where in the metro area you're going.  Lakewood, CO to West Jordan, UT is nominally faster going I-70, US6, I-15.  Strictly "Downtown Salt Like City" to "Downtown Denver" is a little quicker on I-80, but it varies within the metros.

and playing around with Google Maps on the different routes between Cincinnati and Columbus. Between the two downtowns, I-71 is the faster route. But if you're going from West Chester (Cincinnati suburb 20 miles north of downtown on I-75) and Hillard (Columbus suburb 10 miles northwest of downtown on I-70 and I-270), I-75/675/70 becomes the faster route than I-71. I'm sure that if I-71 between Cincinnati and Columbus wasn't built under the original interstate system and a direct link between Cincinnati and Columbus is suggested in the fictional highways section today, we would all say that the I-75/675/70 route is adequate. How many more examples are there of this around the country?

[NWI_Irish96]

From the Chicago area to Madison, WI (or any point west of there along I-90 or I-94). From Northbrook on north, I-94 is faster. From Naperville on west, I-88/I-39 is faster. Anywhere else, I-90 is faster.

[Tom958]

There are three routes between Atlanta and Athens, GA. I-85 and GA 316 is best for the north side and for downtown except at rush hour. I-20, GA 138 and US 78 is best for the south side including Hartsfield, and US 78 alone is best for a fair chunk of the east side.

Also, either I-85 or I-75 can be the Atlanta end of the ATL-Tallahassee run. From downtown, the I-75 routes are shorter, but I-85 is less congested, and whether you're starting from the east or west side makes a difference, too.

ATL-Huntsville is somewhat fluffy: it's generally best to take I-75 out of Atlanta, but traffic can make i-20 a better bet starting from the south side.

[Takumi]

Richmond-Fredericksburg is accessible either via the US 1/I-95 corridor or US 301/VA 2.

Richmond-Williamsburg has the I-64/US 60 corridor or the meandering VA 5.

[webny99]

Examples abound, but the first three that come to mind are:

London, ON to Toronto: ON 401 vs. ON 403
Binghamton, NY to NYC: I-81/I-380/I-80 vs. NY 17
Milwaukee, WI to Green Bay: I-41 vs. I-43

[formulanone]

ATL-Huntsville is somewhat fluffy: it's generally best to take I-75 out of Atlanta, but traffic can make i-20 a better bet starting from the south side.

The best thing about the route is that you can mix it up a dozen different ways and only add a little more time or mileage. If there's any delays, then US 431 is sometimes quicker. US 72 to AL 35, AL 9, then GA 20? Or 72-35-40-117, GA 48, et al? What's the report on I-565, I-65, or I-20 traffic? And which part of the Atlanta Metro area are you headed to? The drawback for non-roadgeeks is that there's no truly direct route.

Is that I-20 widening project done yet? Narrow, 55mph, bumpy, over-patrolled, many trucks, dangerous. It's a major consideration on how I plan that route the 2-4 times a year I'll drive out that way.

[cwf1701]

Detroit to Chicago depending on what part of metro Detroit you leave from, there is I-94 from Downtown to Downtown.  Or you could take US-12 out of Detroit. from the Downriver suburbs, you could take I-75 to I-90.
London ON to Detroit MI is either ON-401/ON-3 (or former ON-3B) or ON-402/I-94.

[Tom958]

The best thing about the route is that you can mix it up a dozen different ways and only add a little more time or mileage. If there's any delays, then US 431 is sometimes quicker. US 72 to AL 35, AL 9, then GA 20? Or 72-35-40-117, GA 48, et al? What's the report on I-565, I-65, or I-20 traffic? And which part of the Atlanta Metro area are you headed to? The drawback for non-roadgeeks is that there's no truly direct route.

Google Maps consistently picks 72-35-40-117-48-27-140-75, and I find it a delightful drive, but it has some steep grades. Like, 13% in one place. I wouldn't want to do it in inclement weather. 35 has steep grades, too.

Is that I-20 widening project done yet? Narrow, 55mph, bumpy, over-patrolled, many trucks, dangerous. It's a major consideration on how I plan that route the 2-4 times a year I'll drive out that way.

I dunno. It's been going on forever. I've been threatening to take a photography trip to Tallapoosa and nearby towns, so I guess I'll find out then.

[Scott5114]

If you're coming from the south, depending on where you're going in the Kansas City metro, it can be much faster to take the Kansas Turnpike through Topeka and Lawrence rather than I-35 through Ottawa and Johnson County.

[Dirt Roads]

Washington DC to New York City:  If you're catch two or more cities during rush hours, it was best to take I-270 to US-15 to I-81 to I-78 (several different tricks to get through Harrisburg).  But even going up I-95 required pick-and-choose around Baltimore, Philly and sometimes Wilmington.

[Tom958]

Charlotte-Raleigh is obviously I-85 and I-40, but from Matthews, which is inside I-485, NC 27 and US 1 are a couple of minutes longer but 27 miles shorter. I'd take the latter.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Twin Cities to Madison/Milwaukee/Chicago: the vast majority of the metro, it's tastes to take I-94, but some fringes of the south and southeast metro are better served taking US 52 to I-90. But by fringe I mean the exurbs, even places like Burnsville are still much faster taking 94.

[Dirt Roads]

Charlotte-Raleigh is obviously I-85 and I-40, but from Matthews, which is inside I-485, NC 27 and US 1 are a couple of minutes longer but 27 miles shorter. I'd take the latter.

With the opening of Asheboro Bypass, it looks like NC-49 to US-64 is now the fastest and possibly route from Matthews to Raleigh.  133 miles versus 137 miles on NC-27/US-1.  Whoodathunkit?

[Ned Weasel]

If you're coming from the south, depending on where you're going in the Kansas City metro, it can be much faster to take the Kansas Turnpike through Topeka and Lawrence rather than I-35 through Ottawa and Johnson County.

KCK, KCI Airport, KC Northland: Turnpike
South KC, East KC: I-35
Downtown KC: Flip a coin.

[CoreySamson]

Houston-Austin has a number of different scenarios:

Going from anywhere south of IAH in Houston to basically anywhere south of the Colorado River in Austin, it's faster to take I-10 and TX 71, but it's faster to take US 290 for those north or west of IAH.

Going from anywhere north of I-10 in Houston to basically anywhere north of the Colorado River, it's faster to take US 290.

Going from anywhere south of I-10 in Houston to basically anywhere north of the Colorado River and south of US 290, it's marginally faster to take I-10 and TX 71.

But if you're going anywhere north of US 290 in the Austin metro, then US 290 is faster, even from Houston's southern suburbs (except for Houston's western and southwestern suburbs, where it's faster to take 10 and 71!)

Take this with a grain of salt though, because in most cases it is only several minutes faster to take one route over another, so it doesn't matter too much.

[TheStranger]

The Bay Area, being as large as it is, really lends itself to this sort of thing:

SF-Sacramento - I-80 directly, vs. I-80 to Route 24 to I-680 to I-80 (a common alternate I have used to avoid congestion in the Berkeley area), vs. the scenic Delta routes i.e. I-80-I-580-Route 24-I-680-Route 242-Route 4-Route 160

San Jose-Sacramento: 680 north to 80 east is the obvious route but requires toll at the Benicia Bridge.  A toll-free alternative I have taken is 680-84-580-205-5-4-99, especially when I lived closer to Howe Avenue.

San Francisco to Stockton: the signed route is 80-580-205-5 but I've done 80-580-24-680-242-4.

Bay Area to Los Angeles has multitude of approaches:

SF to LA: 101 directly (or with the aid of 154 bypassing Las Cruces) vs. 101-152-5 vs. 80-580-5 vs. 80-580-205-5-120-99 vs. 101-152-99-5.  Could easily argue that anywhere west of 405 is primarily best reached via 101, while east of there is via some variant of taking 5 down.

Bay Area to Fresno is similar to SF-LA: 80-580-205-5-120-99 vs. 101-152-99, or if one is even more daring, 80-580-132-99.


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Some others that come to mind:

Reno/Tahoe to Stockton: the all-freeway route is 80 west to Business 80 west to 99 south, going through Sacramento, but 395/580 to 88 is much more scenic and enjoyable.

Los Angeles to Vegas: depends on which part of LA.  Downtown and inland empire would be something like 10 or 210 east to 15 north, but northern San Fernando Valley would go 14-Pearblossom Highway-138-18-15.

Los Angeles to San Diego: while 5 is the most direct and obvious route, 60-71-91-15 allows one to avoid the Downey choke point on 5.

Bakersfield to Ventura: the old US 399 route (119 west to 33) vs. using 99-5-126.

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several future Philippine examples:

NAIA to Cabanatuan: either NAIAx-Skyway-NLEX-Central Luzon Link Expressway, or C-5 Expressway-La Mesa Parkway/North Luzon East Expressway

Tagaytay to Manila: CTBEX to CALAX to CAVITEX (to Port Link Expressway) vs. CTBEX to CALAX in the other direction to SLEX/Skyway

Tagaytay to Novaliches, Quezon City: CTBEX to CALAX to CAVITEX to Port Link Expressway to NLEX Harbor Link to C-5/NLEX Segment 8.2, vs. CTBEX to CALAX in the other direction to SLEX/Skyway to SEMME/C-6 Expressway to SEMME Batasan spur

Angeles to Manila: NLEX to Skyway vs. SCTEX to Bulacan-Tarlac Airport Expressway to Shoreline Expressway to Port Link Expressway

[michravera]

The Bay Area, being as large as it is, really lends itself to this sort of thing:

SF-Sacramento - I-80 directly, vs. I-80 to Route 24 to I-680 to I-80 (a common alternate I have used to avoid congestion in the Berkeley area), vs. the scenic Delta routes i.e. I-80-I-580-Route 24-I-680-Route 242-Route 4-Route 160

San Jose-Sacramento: 680 north to 80 east is the obvious route but requires toll at the Benicia Bridge.  A toll-free alternative I have taken is 680-84-580-205-5-4-99, especially when I lived closer to Howe Avenue.

San Francisco to Stockton: the signed route is 80-580-205-5 but I've done 80-580-24-680-242-4.

Bay Area to Los Angeles has multitude of approaches:

SF to LA: 101 directly (or with the aid of 154 bypassing Las Cruces) vs. 101-152-5 vs. 80-580-5 vs. 80-580-205-5-120-99 vs. 101-152-99-5.  Could easily argue that anywhere west of 405 is primarily best reached via 101, while east of there is via some variant of taking 5 down.

Bay Area to Fresno is similar to SF-LA: 80-580-205-5-120-99 vs. 101-152-99, or if one is even more daring, 80-580-132-99.


---

Some others that come to mind:

Reno/Tahoe to Stockton: the all-freeway route is 80 west to Business 80 west to 99 south, going through Sacramento, but 395/580 to 88 is much more scenic and enjoyable.

Los Angeles to Vegas: depends on which part of LA.  Downtown and inland empire would be something like 10 or 210 east to 15 north, but northern San Fernando Valley would go 14-Pearblossom Highway-138-18-15.

Los Angeles to San Diego: while 5 is the most direct and obvious route, 60-71-91-15 allows one to avoid the Downey choke point on 5.

Bakersfield to Ventura: the old US 399 route (119 west to 33) vs. using 99-5-126.

---

several future Philippine examples:

NAIA to Cabanatuan: either NAIAx-Skyway-NLEX-Central Luzon Link Expressway, or C-5 Expressway-La Mesa Parkway/North Luzon East Expressway

Tagaytay to Manila: CTBEX to CALAX to CAVITEX (to Port Link Expressway) vs. CTBEX to CALAX in the other direction to SLEX/Skyway

Tagaytay to Novaliches, Quezon City: CTBEX to CALAX to CAVITEX to Port Link Expressway to NLEX Harbor Link to C-5/NLEX Segment 8.2, vs. CTBEX to CALAX in the other direction to SLEX/Skyway to SEMME/C-6 Expressway to SEMME Batasan spur

Angeles to Manila: NLEX to Skyway vs. SCTEX to Bulacan-Tarlac Airport Expressway to Shoreline Expressway to Port Link Expressway

From Ventura to San Jose, it can depend upon factors not reasonably known at the time that you would have to make the decision whether it will be faster to get over onto I-5 (CA SRs 126 and 152) and come back or stay on US-101.

For San Jose to Sacramento and vice-versa, CASR-84 is intrinsically shorter than staying on I-680 to I-580 or taking I-680 to I-80, but, until all of the improvements are made to CASR-84, you can't count on it as a shortcut unless the I-680 and I-580 parts are known to be a problem.

[sprjus4]

South Hampton Roads to Richmond - Either US-460 or I-64, depends on traffic and location on the southside. Generally from anywhere inside the HR beltway to Richmond, I-64 is the best route, but heavy congestion on the tunnels and rural segments west of Williamsburg may change that. The urban segment through Williamsburg and Newport News isn't usually an issue, 6-8 lane highway with a 65 mph speed limit with traffic usually in the 75-80 mph range even in rush hour. Additionally, places such as Suffolk may see easier access simply taking US-460 instead of backtracking to I-664.

Raleigh to Richmond - Either US-1 to I-85, or US-64 to I-95

[thspfc]

From the Chicago area to Madison, WI (or any point west of there along I-90 or I-94). From Northbrook on north, I-94 is faster. From Naperville on west, I-88/I-39 is faster. Anywhere else, I-90 is faster.

US-14 to I-90 and US-12 to CTH-N to WI-59 can also be quickest.

[ftballfan]

Detroit to Chicago:
From the city and its northern and western suburbs, I-94 is the quickest route. However, from the Downriver area, I-75 to I-80/I-90 is quicker.

Grand Rapids to Detroit depends on destination within Metro Detroit.
If the destination is in northeast Oakland County (basically north and east of a line from Holly to Troy) or northern Macomb County, I-96 to I-69 to I-75 to M-59 is quickest. (It also helps that I-69 between roughly the BL I-69 exit near Bath and the Morrish Rd exit near Swartz Creek has a 75 mph speed limit)
If the destination is in the White Lake/Walled Lake area, I-96 to M-59 is quickest.
If the destination is in southern Oakland County or southern Macomb County, I-96 to I-696 is quickest.
If the destination is in downtown Detroit, I-96 to I-696 to M-10 is quickest.
If the destination is near the airport, I-96 to I-275 to I-94 is quickest.

[JREwing78]

I'm stretching the limits of "metro", but bear with me...

From my residence (Janesville, WI), I can elect to travel to Houghton, MI by way of I-39/US-51 through Wausau, or via I/US-41 through Green Bay. The routes never touch each other once outside Janesville's city limits, and are within 5 miles and maybe 10 minutes of drive time of each other. At that point, variables like weather, whether the Green Bay Packers have a home game or not. or if the cheese shop in Lena, WI will be open when I drive by make the decision on which route I take.

When I'm visiting family in Michigan and want to visit someone in the Detroit metro area. I can either drive north to I-96 in Lansing or south to I-94 in Jackson. For parts of Oakland and Macomb counties, it's quicker to take I-69 to I-75 in Flint, or even continue east on I-69 to M-53. 

[Dirt Roads]

Washington DC to Baltimore has lots of options.  From the Capitol to downtown Baltimore then I-95 to I-395 is the norm.  But from the west side of the Capitol Beltway to the west side of the Baltimore Beltway, I usually preferred US-29 to I-70.  Staying on the east side, it was often better to slow-roll up the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.  But I often struggled to find a good route from Dulles to BWI, with there being no SW/NE diagonals of any sort.  That meant I-95 to MD-100 and Baltimore-Washington Parkway to I-195 often worked better than driving I-95 almost all the way to Baltimore before hitting I-195 back down to BWI.  Thirty years ago I used MD-175 out of Jessup or sometimes the old MD-32 to zig-zag my way across.

[wanderer2575]

Depending on where in the metro Detroit area you are leaving/arriving, the route between Detroit and Flint will be either I-96/US-23 or I-75.

[pianocello]

Going from the Quad Cities (or anywhere farther west) to Chicago will take you on either I-88 or I-80 depending on your destination. If you're going north of about 95th St, it's better to take I-88, south of 95th would be better off taking I-80.

It's usually so close, decisions between the two routes are usually swayed more heavily by traffic and tolls, though.

[sparker]

Sometimes it's a combination of where one is located in or around a metro area and when one intends to depart.  Right around the turn of the century my business was located in San Dimas, CA near the (present) 57/210 interchange -- roughly halfway between the two main northward egress points for greater L.A. -- I-5 and I-15.  I regularly traveled north, sometimes in a small truck loaded down with merchandise, with an invariable interim stop in the Bay Area before heading farther north to Seattle; depending upon circumstances, I would leave anywhere between 6 a.m. and noon.  If traveling unladen -- and outside commute hours -- I tended to use I-210 to I-5 and then north out of town (and up the steep Castaic grade).  Loaded (the truck, not me!), I more often than not headed east to I-15 (which before 2002 meant heading east on I-10, as 210 was still being constructed), segueing onto US 395 and then CA 58 over to the Valley.  Not only were the Cajon grades gentler but avoiding the inevitable Azusa-to-Pasadena 210 slowdown was a big plus.  Also, if leaving early in the morning initially heading east then north placed me in a "contraflow" position -- opposite the regular inbound commuter rush.  Over the 7 years I maintained that office, I'd guess that I used I-15, as opposed to I-5, for at least 2/3 of the NB trips. 

Added bonus -- heading over CA 58 to Bakersfield to some degree rationalized using CA 99 up through the Valley; including stopping at Bravo Farms in Traver to get some of their specialty cheese as a gift for the folks I would stay with in the Bay Area -- and to stop in Fresno for a biroc (aka "beerock") or two for lunch!