I-295 as an Alternative to the NJ Turnpike
 

I drove from DC to NYC last night and decided to take the toll-free I-295 route from the Delaware Memorial Bridge start as far north as I could before cutting over to the NJ Turnpike just to see how viable a route it could be. I made it as far as Burlington/Mt. Holly before the options for cutting over looked unviable. Looks like I saved about $5 in tolls and probably added about 10 min extra driving time (under mostly ideal conditions) so was wondering if others who are more familiar with this route have any suggestions on any better points of exit/entry to the Turnpike from 295 and if it's normally a bypass that's worth considering from a cost/time-saving/fuel consumption basis for future refererence.

Thanks.

I do Mass. to Maryland 1-3 times a year (for the last nearly 25 years!). I'd say I use 295 about 1/3 of the time, usually anytime I see signs of backups forming on the NJTP. Especially if I think it's a time period where the Turnpike traffic is just going to increase (or I'm headed SB on the TP and the traffic is very heavy) I'll preemptively jump onto 295. Sometimes it's just based on a gut feeling that it's not a good day to stay on the Turnpike! Anyways, the trade off in time is made up in flexibility if you can avoid getting stuck in a long backup where there's no way off the NJTP for miles, as 295 also gives you options to more easily hop to the PA side (I-95) as well.

The worst part of 295 is dealing with where it crosses I-76/NJ-42/Atlantic City Expy in Bellmawr. I haven't looked up the plans for the construction, but it looks like they may make that more pleasant soon with the realignments.

I only just now noticed that there's also a short connection possible between NJTP exit 7 and 295 exit 56 (via Rising Sun Road/Connector Road/US-206) - never actually tried that, but it gets you a couple more TP exits north. I've often just stayed on 295 all the way to 195 to get back to the turnpike at 7A, which does add 2-3 miles, but is pretty quick and easy if you're trying to avoid the turnpike as much as possible.

Thanks; the Bellmawr interchange was a bit of a mess with the northbound section of 42 closed at the I-295 interchange so there was a short detour around the closure. Good tips about the others further up/closer to Trenton and also good point about more exits off of I-295 vs the Turnpike.

I've used it many times when I was commuting for a couple of weeks a year between Brooklyn and Phila. That route plus the Tacony Palmyra Bridge saved me a bit of money.
Exit 57 on 295 connects to exit 7 on the NJT at Bordentown via US 130 and US 206. It probably adds 10 - 15 min to the trip over the turnpike. IMHO, the Exit 5 interchange was the faster and easier.

Another alternative: I-95 now connects directly to the PA Turnpike at (double check me) Exit 40. This takes you over the Delaware River and connects you to the NJT at exit 6. I haven't timed this route vs the Turnpike vs 295 so YMMV