New England - NYC to providence on a Friday night

I am planning on driving from NYC (upper west side 60's) to Providence on Friday 19th November, leabing around 5pm.

Can anyone give me an idea of what traffic will be like and how long it is likley to take!

thanks

Traffic will be very heavy. I-95 will be brutal most of the way through New Haven. Plan on four hours, maybe more. Any chance you can take the train instead of driving?

Traffic will be very heavy. I-95 will be brutal most of the way through New Haven. Plan on four hours, maybe more. Any chance you can take the train instead of driving?

The train is going to be around four hours anyway and your going to want a car if your in Providence. You could always see if the Hutchison, Merritt and 95 at New Haven is quicker.

thanks. i am going to be relying on my sat nav so i will go where it takes me!!!

The train is going to be around four hours anyway and your going to want a car if your in Providence. You could always see if the Hutchison, Merritt and 95 at New Haven is quicker.The train is under three relatively relaxed hours, compared to 4+ hours in intense traffic. But assuming the OP needs to drive, you really need to commit in advance on which routing to take; you can't really "see [which] is quicker," other than checking traffic reports for accidents and the like. In any event, whether you take I-95 the whole way (which is what your GPS likely will recommend) or the Hutch to the Merritt to 95 (which is the way I would go), it's going to be a parking lot for most of the ride until you get past New Haven.

thanks. i am going to be relying on my sat nav so i will go where it takes me!!!If you tell us where in NYC you're originating from, we can weigh in with our recommended routes. There's a very good chance that your GPS will take you into the heart of the very worst traffic!

Traffic will probably be a disaster getting out of the city and again once you hit Connecticut. You will probably be in a traffic jam from Greenwich to either Bridgeport or New Haven. It's a total toss up as to which road (95 or the Merritt) will be better for you based on what's going on that day. The earlier you can leave, even fifteen minutes or a half hour, can really help.

Once you pass New Haven, barring any accidents it should be a fairly easy ride.

I would plan on at least four hours, though I think that may not be enough time. That is the week before Thanksgiving, so traffic may be quite heavy with people taking part of the next week off. It is not at all unusual on Friday afternoons to hear the words "stop and go for 27 miles to Bridgeport" in the traffic reports.

Traffic will probably be a disaster getting out of the city and again once you hit Connecticut. You will probably be in a traffic jam from Greenwich to either Bridgeport or New Haven. It's a total toss up as to which road (95 or the Merritt) will be better for you based on what's going on that day. The earlier you can leave, even fifteen minutes or a half hour, can really help.

Once you pass New Haven, barring any accidents it should be a fairly easy ride.

I would plan on at least four hours, though I think that may not be enough time. That is the week before Thanksgiving, so traffic may be quite heavy with people taking part of the next week off. It is not at all unusual on Friday afternoons to hear the words "stop and go for 27 miles to Bridgeport" in the traffic reports.The good news is that Bob & Timmy's (http://www.bobandtimmys.com/) is open until 11pm on Fridays, so unless the ride takes over five hours, the OP should arrive in Providence in time for an awesome grilled pizza!

If you tell us where in NYC you're originating from, we can weigh in with our recommended routes. There's a very good chance that your GPS will take you into the heart of the very worst traffic!

We will be leaving from 60th and West end

I agree with Blumie.... I live in Providence and do this often....

the Hutch to the Merritt to 95

We will be leaving from 60th and West endHere's my recommended route. If you listen to your GPS, it almost certainly will have you take the Cross Bronx Expressway, which will be a disaster. This will be much better (although it will still suck!):

Drive north on West End, take a left on 79th St, and enter the Henry Hudson Parkway heading north. Stay in the left lane to avoid the very heavy traffic that will be exiting to the right for the George Washington Bridge.

Follow the Henry Hudson Parkway (it will become the Sawmill River Parkway, but you won't know the difference) for about 12 miles in total until you see signs for the Cross County Parkway. Exit to the right to get on the Cross County Parkway.

Follow the Cross County Parkway for about 5 miles until you see signs directing you to the Hutchinson River Parkway heading north. Stay to the left to merge onto the Hutch.

Follow the Hutch for about 10 miles until you see signs for the Merritt Parkway. Stay to the right to continue on the Merritt Parkway.

Follow the Merritt for about 35-40 miles (it will become the Wilbur Cross Parkway, but you won't know the difference). Take exit 54 (the sign will be marked Milford and I-95).

Go about a mile and get on I-95 North, and follow this all the way to Providence, about 110 miles. (As you approach New Haven, stay to the right to avoid the traffic merging on the left onto I-91.)

Couple of pointers for you in case you do the Hutch to Merritt to 95 route.

Most traffic reports ignore that part of Connecticut. If you have gps with traffic, don't count on it unless there is an accident. 20 or 25 miles of stop and go on a Friday afternoon is a normal event and will not be reported as an incident.

It's exit 54 in Connecticut on the Merritt in Milford that brings you down to 95. The connector can have a speed trap set on it, after sitting on the Merritt people really want to make up some time, it's like fish in a barrel.

The state has some fairly good traffic information if you have a mobile device, follow CTDOT_District3 on Twitter for the lower part of the state from Greenwich to New Haven, and CTDOT_District2 for the rest of the lower half of the state. That's good when it's working, which it's been up and down quite a bit (currently down). You can also get sign up for alert e-mails here

http://www.dotdata.ct.gov/etraffic/

thanks. i am going to be relying on my sat nav so i will go where it takes me!!!You need to listen to the traffic reports before you go. There are many ways of leaving the UWS heading into CT. Unless your GPS can tell you about the major backups, it really does you no good during the heart of rush hour. 880 on the 8s, 1010 on the 1s and 1130 on the 5s for traffic. Also look online before you go.

Next, I think you might want to rethink your 5pm departure. You might as well wait until at least after 7 to get there at about the same time. And at 7, it won't be a cake walk but it will be easier on much of the route.

To start off with some sort of plan, follow Blumie's directions initially unless you hear otherwise from the traffic reports. Your GPS might put you on the CT turnpike (95) but with the trucks, it is extremely slow. The one drawback of the Hutch and Merritt is that you will be a bit blinded by the southbound headlights especially those white neon ones.

You will only be moving at 15 mph at that hour on the Merritt, so the headlights won't be that much of an issue :D

You will only be moving at 15 mph at that hour on the Merritt, so the headlights won't be that much of an issue :DI drive the Hutch/Merritt combo all the time (including three times in the last four days, all at night), and have had no issue with the oncoming headlights.

You will only be moving at 15 mph at that hour on the Merritt, so the headlights won't be that much of an issue :DOf course they will be; you'll have to endure them even that much longer. :D But it sounds like people here aren't bothered by them.

At the hour the OP wants to leave, 15 mph is impressive. :p

I'll defer to the local's wisdom, and acknowledge my intense dislike of I-95 in CT, so if this is way off-base...

How about heading due north via 684 and taking I-84 over? I know this (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=60th+%26+west+end+manhattan&daddr=41.38712,-73.54909+to:providence,+ri&hl=en&geocode=FZMibgIdigCX-ynlUXE-XFjCiTHObO_XrMAxoA%3BFXCEdwId3rqd-ykhJjMEnFTdiTGUfGthhPKvQg%3BFfUufgIdnlO--yldc35D4ETkiTEntrNITXzfaQ&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=9&via=1&sll=41.298005,-72.69836&sspn=1.741543,3.526611&ie=UTF8&ll=41.097982,-73.230743&spn=0.873448,1.763306&z=10) route isn't direct, but I think I can only foresee two trouble spots (maybe 3 depends on the time to Waterbury)

I'll defer to the local's wisdom, and acknowledge my intense dislike of I-95 in CT, so if this is way off-base...

How about heading due north via 684 and taking I-84 over? I know this (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=60th+%26+west+end+manhattan&daddr=41.38712,-73.54909+to:providence,+ri&hl=en&geocode=FZMibgIdigCX-ynlUXE-XFjCiTHObO_XrMAxoA%3BFXCEdwId3rqd-ykhJjMEnFTdiTGUfGthhPKvQg%3BFfUufgIdnlO--yldc35D4ETkiTEntrNITXzfaQ&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=9&via=1&sll=41.298005,-72.69836&sspn=1.741543,3.526611&ie=UTF8&ll=41.097982,-73.230743&spn=0.873448,1.763306&z=10) route isn't direct, but I think I can only foresee two trouble spots (maybe 3 depends on the time to Waterbury)
I did a search but couldn't find it, but there is a thread with a list of the CT traffic websites with traffic warnings, construction alerts and the like. That would be very helpful to see what's happening on 84 as the OP won't hear about 84 on local NYC radio. Any CT driving know these urls?

They are all linked off this page

http://www.ct.gov/dot/site/default.asp

There is no real way to get from 84 to Providence, Providence never got the full construction of the interstates to connect in each direction. You can get there, but it's not a fun drive, any savings by skipping Fairfield County will probably be lost in the lack of major roads.

Of course they will be; you'll have to endure them even that much longer. :D But it sounds like people here aren't bothered by them.I'll be back on the Hutch/Merritt on Thur night and am going to pay particular attention to whether oncoming headlights are or might be a problem. I'll report my findings!


I'll defer to the local's wisdom, and acknowledge my intense dislike of I-95 in CT, so if this is way off-base...

How about heading due north via 684 and taking I-84 over? I know this (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=60th+%26+west+end+manhattan&daddr=41.38712,-73.54909+to:providence,+ri&hl=en&geocode=FZMibgIdigCX-ynlUXE-XFjCiTHObO_XrMAxoA%3BFXCEdwId3rqd-ykhJjMEnFTdiTGUfGthhPKvQg%3BFfUufgIdnlO--yldc35D4ETkiTEntrNITXzfaQ&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=9&via=1&sll=41.298005,-72.69836&sspn=1.741543,3.526611&ie=UTF8&ll=41.097982,-73.230743&spn=0.873448,1.763306&z=10) route isn't direct, but I think I can only foresee two trouble spots (maybe 3 depends on the time to Waterbury)This route can be an acceptable alternative when traveling to Hartford or Boston, but not really to Providence. Also, I-84 west of Hartford can have it's share of traffic problems, too.

I'll be back on the Hutch/Merritt on Thur night and am going to pay particular attention to whether oncoming headlights are or might be a problem. I'll report my findings!I drove NYC-Boston on Thur night, and Boston-NYC on Friday night, both via the Hutch/Merritt, and am pleased to report that glare from oncoming headlights absolutely, positively is not a problem. The only problem is the ridiculous number of people who drive too slowly in the left lane!

I drove NYC-Boston on Thur night, and Boston-NYC on Friday night, both via the Hutch/Merritt, and am pleased to report that glare from oncoming headlights absolutely, positively is not a problem. The halogens in the rear view mirrow from the mega SUV one and one half car lengths behind driving at 62 mph are though. ;)

The only problem is the ridiculous number of people who drive too slowly in the left lane!Yeah, but if you get in the right lane to try to get by, the left lane cars just pass you faster and you fall further and further behind. There is just no getting ahead of those slow left lane cars even if occasionally you can see open space just 22 cars ahead of you.