Travels thru cities or around them?

[cjmgranny]

Hi all,
Is there an easy way to find out if it is a good idea to travel through a city with a travel trailer or if going around the city is preferable?
I grew up in Boston MA and although it is a great city, I would rather drive around it than thru it with my travel trailer if Boston were not my destination.
We are planning a cross country trip and are wondering specifically about Indianapolis IN, E St Louis IL and St Louis MO.
Thank you,
cjmgranny

[C-Bears]

cjmgranny wrote:
Hi all,
Is there an easy way to find out if it is a good idea to travel through a city with a travel trailer or if going around the city is preferable?
I grew up in Boston MA and although it is a great city, I would rather drive around it than thru it with my travel trailer if Boston were not my destination.
We are planning a cross country trip and are wondering specifically about Indianapolis IN, E St Louis IL and St Louis MO.
Thank you,
cjmgranny

There is no easy way to answer this question. Take Atlanta for example, generally it is faster to go right through on I-75, unless it is rush hour, but then again over the years that has changed some due to the bypass getting worse. So Atlanta could now be a toss up for most.

Indianapolis has a "ring" of interstates around it and the city is huge so obviously you would want to circle around it. In St. Louis there is not much choice, and whatever you do don't go through East St. Louis! I suppose if each of you were armed with a machine gun and you were looking for excitement you could, but otherwise won't even stop close to East St. Louis.

Chicago has tons of toll roads and interstates, or you can dump off and go right into downtown Chicago, you will know if you are where you are not suppose to be in a hurry.

On a trip out west last summer we went across the U.S., up the California, Oregon, Washington coast, then back across the northern states. The only area I avoided was L.A. We routed out just over 100 miles from L.A. Just didn't want to get into the traffic or other issues.

[04fxsts]

I-465 around Indy is the way to go but rush hours are scary and that is without towing anything. It is still a lot better than trying to go straight through. St Louis is another one to definatley go around, made that mistake once also, never again. Be advised, East St. Louis is not a place to be for any reason. It is a super high crime area, one of the worst in Illinois. Jim.

[rockhillmanor]

Me Again wrote:
Depends on city, time of day and day of week....

X2

When I was Snowbirding from WI to FL I would plan my trip to stop at a a real nice KOA outside of Atlanta. And then do Atlanta at 3:00 in the morning straight thru. Ahhhh.

I also changed my total route to the west. Totally avoiding Chicago and Indy and more importantly for me, avoiding what I call the dreaded drop off of the 7% grade in Chattanooga.

Then all that is left is Nashville which is a pain but is relatively a short distance thru it.

Yes it's a very few miles more but it is a relaxing trip with a MH towing......IMHO the whole purpose of RV'ing! :C

[Me_Again]

Depends on city, time of day and day of week.

Atlanta = bad bad bad
East Bay San Francisco Sat or Sun OK
Seattle = Not many other choices.
Phoenix = Drive fast, like the big highway numbers in the lanes.

Etc Etc

[Geocritter]

When I took my 33' Class A Holiday Rambler on last years Grand Western North America Tour and Shakedown Journey. I avoided heavy traffic by going through both Los Angeles and Dallas at 2am-3am. It really cut down on the bad traffic! Both times I was able to stop early at a rest area on the cities outskirts and get my 7 hours of sleep before my 2am start.

[BB_TX]

From my experience there is no one good answer. In some cases it is best to go around. In others it is best to go thru. Dallas/Ft Worth is a good example. Traveling east to west (or vice versa) it is best to go around the south side using I-20 to bypass both downtowns. But north to south (or vice versa) it is best to just go straight thru. Need to look at all options.

[rhagfo]

FrankShore wrote:
That would depend on the type of rig you're pulling or driving. A travel trailer isn't bad, but if you've got a huge diesel pusher, I'd think twice about it.

What difference does it make? My rig is 8'+ wide, 13.5' tall and 50'+ long. If you are on the interstate the lanes are 10' to 12' wide, that would be a cake walk compared to this!

[tatest]

Sometimes loops are worse than going through the middle of the city, because of the suburban traffic they carry. West side loop for St Louis, I-610 for Houston being cases in point. So there is no general principle, it is more about knowing the local problems.

Being familiar with Indianapolis and St Louis, I would take the south loop around Indianapolis if going to I-40 W from any place on the east side, and for St Louis I would take the loop on the north side if going to I-40, around the east and south sides if going to I-44, although if headed to I-44 I sometimes just go through.

If headed down I-44 and further west, I would use 244 to get across Tulsa. OK City, I-240 used to be better for going through, but now that it has been built up around, it can be worse than following I-40.

Kansas City, loop around the west and south if connecting with I-35 south from an eastern approach, or go straight through if staying on I-40.

Being not in a hurry most of the time, I stay off of much of the Interstate system to avoid the cities entirely, using rural segments of the U.S. highway system to connect between rural segments of the Interstates. In the Midwest, speed limits are almost as high and the roads are often in better shape and always less crowded. This is probably quite different from your experience with numbered U.S. and state highways in the Northeastern Megapolis where suburbs and smaller cities tend to fill in almost all the space.

From where to where? I can probably get from east central Ohio to anyplace east of the Rockies without routing through or near a city of more than 500,000 but east of that and in the urban West this is much harder to do because the alternative roads tend to go through almost contiguous medium-size cities, rather than farmland, grasslands or empty desert.

[FrankShore]

That would depend on the type of rig you're pulling or driving. A travel trailer isn't bad, but if you've got a huge diesel pusher, I'd think twice about it.

[hooligan]

Recent trip from Pcola to Greenville, Sc, went through Atlanta instead of the east bypass. 36ft DP with toad. traffic was just as fast, and seemed even heavier and something I had not considered- the lanes in the most congested areas were noticeably narrower. The bypass is only a few miles longer and in my opinion, well worthwhile.
To make it more interesting, a truck that I was passing and 5 ft away- blew his engine as I went by, sprayed black oil on my passenger side windshield, the RV and a lot on the toad. For 1 heartbeat when I heard the noise, saw the smoke and oil I thought it was me. But remembered --my engine's in the back....

[NMDriver]

Generally, I skirt a big city or by=pass it entirely. That is not always possible and that is where a smart phone can be a big help. Ours will re-route us on the fly as traffic conditions change. Of course, sometimes you still get caught in a jam but at least you have your toilet with you and can pull onto the shoulder if necessary.

[cjmgranny]

Hi all,
I am thrilled to get this much feedback to my question. We have a small T@B trailer and this will be our first cross country trip. I appreciate all of your help! Keep thoses suggestions coming!
Thanks,
"Granny"
PS... I did not know bypasses had 3 numbers.

[pitch]

Since we are not in a hurry to get any where,we don't go near any cities. Detours of hundred plus miles have occurred. We do not tow though cities!

[downtheroad]

The only time we go into a big city is with our tow vehicle and only if we have to..We try to avoid them if possible when towing.

Actually we try to avoid big cities all together....
Go around.

[rockhillmanor]

cjmgranny wrote:
Hi all,
Is there an easy way to find out if it is a good idea to travel through a city with a travel trailer or if going around the city is preferable?
I grew up in Boston MA and although it is a great city, I would rather drive around it than thru it with my travel trailer if Boston were not my destination.
We are planning a cross country trip and are wondering specifically about Indianapolis IN, E St Louis IL and St Louis MO.
Thank you,
cjmgranny

I went on a trip from Chicago to 'Boston'. ONCE. NEVER AGAIN.

If you have traveled thru you own state of Boston with your TT?
Every other town will be a piece of cake for you! :B

Almost all of the big cities have a by pass route. The by pass route number will always have 3 numbers. Just follow the signs with the 3 numbers on it!

Just be careful with Indianapolis' by pass. Miss your exit and you will find yourself having to go around the complete racetrack again!!



:B:B