Jericho-79

Hey everyone. I currently live near the Jersey Shore. I've driven through Connecticut twice in order to Boston or Foxborough. Both times I traveled to Massachusetts via the Garden State Parkway, the New York Thruway, the Tappan Zee Bridge, I-287, and I-95.

On my first trip it took me over 5 hours to reach the Boston area, and this past weekend it took me over 7 hours. Both times there was a lot of road work being done on the Connecticut Turnpike, which caused traffic to backed up for miles and miles. Plus, on the way back from Massachusetts, there were at least two accidents along the Turnpike.

I don't think I'd want to use the Connecticut Turnpike on my next trip to Massachusetts.

Are there any alternative routes going though Connecticut to get to the Boston area?

Would taking the Merritt Parkway and the Massachusetts Turnpike be a better option?

Out of my Element

Going to Boston, we take the Tappen Zee to 287 to 15 to 91 to 84 to 90. If you're going to Foxboro, you might want to take 95 all the way from the New Haven area

lhl12

In my experience, 95 in CT is to be avoided whenever possible.

I would take the Merritt to 91 to 84 to 90. I'd use that route even if going to Foxborough (which I'd get to via 495 south from 90.)

Analise

Yup.

That said, we do opt for the CT Turnpike for night driving because the curvy and hilly road that is the Merritt is awful since it is also not well lit.

When driving in CT, go to CT's DOT website for the latest traffic conditions.

http://www.dotdata.ct.gov/iti/master_iti.html

cordelli

Possible routes

95 straight through

Merritt to 95 to avoid all of Fairfield County on 95

Merritt to Route 8 to 84 to Mass Pike

Merritt to 91 to 84 to Mass Pike

95 to 91 to 94 to Mass Pike

Avoid all of Fairfield County, take some road (684, or the Taconic, or the Throughway) to 84, take that through the state to the Mass Turnpike.

Any highway in Connecticut is subject to construction delays, it all depends on which one they are working on that day. They have some massive tree removal projects and paving projects on parts of the Merritt, but it's not seven days a week 24 hours a day. If however happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, you can have delays.

By far the easiest is probably to just use Waze and set the route and it will let you know which highway is better, the Merritt or 95. Almost all the time it's going to be the Merritt, but not always.

HUB Flyer

When returning from Manhattan to our home just west of Boston we always go 287 - 684 - 84 (through Hartford) to 90.

Yahtzee

One variation on this is that I like the Sawmill Pkwy to 684.

will2288

^ For the Sawmill. It is a nice drive and a nice break from the pure interstate driving.

I take the GSP-Tappan Zee-Sawmill Pkwy-684-84-90.

lo2e

Another vote for the Sawmill to 684. Wife and I took a long weekend trip end of June/beginning of July down to PA and NJ, coming back was a disaster on both 95 and the Merritt in CT. We took the Sawmill on the way down and loved it.

drewguy

+1 to the various suggestions above.
-1 to any thoughts of using I-95. It's not the most direct and certainly not the fastest.

Foxboro is a little trickier, although I would still go I-90 to I-495, rather than going through Providence.

tkey75

I agree with all of this except if I am certain I will be okay on 95, it is the faster route to Foxboro, but not by much.

The times when you can be certain 95N will not be a wreck are few and far between and are not prognosticated without experience.

For Boston, GSP-Tappan Zee-Sawmill Pkwy-684-84-90 is the route to take in most situations, but even 84 can bite you in Danbury (not likely), Waterbury and Hartford (rush hour).

med2484

Adding on to the folks who say Tappan Zee - 287 - 684/Sawmill - 84 - 90. Using something like Waze is also generally good, but man, I got NAILED last weekend when it popped me onto 95 south of New Haven just before they started doing night work and closed 2 of the 3 lanes - ended up adding an hour to my trip...

Dieuwer

Why not check Google maps just before departure to get an indication of traffic along the major routes?

GregMM

When coming back from PA, we used to do 78 - 287 - 684 - 84, which goes over the Tappan Zee bridge. Lately we've instead been doing 78 - 287 - 87 - 90. It's a bit longer, and takes us just south of Albany, but it's almost all 65 MPH, instead of the yo-yo speed limits, construction, Hartford traffic, and traffic at the 84-90 interchange. It's 25 minutes longer than the Tappan Zee bridge route according to Google Maps, but that's without taking traffic into account on the old route.

lhl12

What we really need is a new interstate that runs southwesterly from I-90 in Springfield, cutting across northwestern Connecticut, tying into I-84 in the vicinity of Pawling (where I-84 makes a 90 degree turn south towards Brewster, NY and Danbury, CT.) That would be a great route to get from Boston (and New England generally) to points south and west while bypassing all traffic associated with Hartford, I-95, and NYC.

A girl can dream, can't she?