Road trip

[MFD46er]

Plotted trip from SouCal to RI on GS. opted to "avoid tolls". Said cant get there from here with out tolls. Several toll turnpikes thru Delaware to New York.Tolls not too expensive.Looks easy to bite the bullit and ride the tolls. Have never driven thru this area. Anyone with experience recommend anything better.

[jplante4]

Maps tell only part of the story. You'll look at the routes I suggested and they'll look like they're hours longer than the direct route. After driving in the northeast for 50 years, I select these routes based only on consistent times. You can go I-95 all the way, and I've done this on a Sunday, and it would take 6-8 hours. Other times it could take 12-15 hours. And you don't know when you start how long it will take.

BTW, for almost the entire 50 years of driving in the northeast they have been working on the I-95/I-91 interchange in CT. 🙂 I avoid that area like the plague.

[MFD46er]

Thanks for all the great responses. Looks like its map time.

[Matt_Colie]

MFD,

Jplante has some good ideas, but you should check them out on your maps before you decide.

Yes, you can't get there without a toll, but bridges are unavoidable unless you vehicle is amphibious. Too bad these planners don't have an "Avoid New York City" check.

That is really no great shake, because I avoid NJ at all costs as it is simply poorly advised if not disastrously illegal to carry any thing that looks like a firearm or ammunition through that state. They are worse than Canada.

Matt - a refugee from the East Coast Megopolis.

[jplante4]

With a stop in DC, I'd do this route to RI

I-270 to I-81 at Hagerstown.
Continue up I-81 to I-84
Stay on I-84 to the Mass Pike
Take Rt 146 south out of Worcester (rhymes with mister) to I-295
I-295 goes around Providence and will get you pretty much anywhere in RI.

When you get onto Rt146 in Worcester, you're gonna say "What did this guy do to me???". Don't worry. Both ends have a business district, but in between it's 2 lane divided highway with very little traffic.

Alternately (if you're going to southern RI, like Pt Judith)

Above, except take I-84 to I-691/CT66 to Middletown
CT 9 south from Middletown to meet I-95 in Old Lyme.
RI border is about 1 hour from there.

[DrewE]

MFD46er wrote:
We are stopping in DC for a couple of days before heading north so will be on the coast already.

That changes things a bit. Personally, I'd probably choose to take I-70 to I-81 to I-84, which does have a toll bridge (the Newburg/Beacon bridge).

EDIT: That should be I-270 to I-70. The map I was glancing at originally didn't make it clear enough which was which after they part ways. Mea culpa, caveat lector, et cetera.

[sdianel_-acct_c]

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[MFD46er]

We are stopping in DC for a couple of days before heading north so will be on the coast already.

[gbopp]

darsben wrote:

gbopp wrote:
Interstate-80 across northern Pennsylvania Is not a toll road.

Interstate-76 across southern Pennsylvania Is a toll road, the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

HOWEVER there is a TOLL AT THE DELAWARE WATER GAP on 80

Yes but, I'd rather pay the Bridge toll than the toll for crossing the state on the turnpike. 🙂

[DrewE]

I'm not sure why you're going through Delaware to get from southern California to Rhode Island...unless there are some additional destinations in between that you need to hit.

If you're thinking of taking I-95 through Baltimore and NYC, I would suggest rethinking that. I avoid it if possible even when traveling by car. I'd probably generally go I-70 to I-71 I-80 to I-84, or else I-40 to I-81 to I-84 if coming from the southwest, though there are many other reasonable options as well.

[darsben]

gbopp wrote:
Interstate-80 across northern Pennsylvania Is not a toll road.

Interstate-76 across southern Pennsylvania Is a toll road, the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

HOWEVER there is a TOLL AT THE DELAWARE WATER GAP on 80

[gbopp]

Interstate-80 across northern Pennsylvania Is not a toll road.

Interstate-76 across southern Pennsylvania Is a toll road, the Pennsylvania Turnpike.