Help w/ driving from Newark, NJ to Baldwin, NY
Jean-Luc Manigat
I am a Montrealer who will be in the NYC area for the week-end; I have
two people to visit, one in Newark, NJ and the other in Baldwin, NY,
and I was wondering what the best way was to go from one to the other.
I would rather plan ahead of time as it would be the first time I
would be driving in the NYC area.
Streets & Trips, Yahoo! Maps and Mapquest all give me the same
directions:
- I-280 to I-95 to Linclon Tunnel
- Through Manhattan via 34th St
- To Midtown Tunnel & I-495
- I-495 to Van Wyck through Grand Central Parkway
- Van Wyck to Belt Parkway
- Belt Parkway to Sunrise Hwy (NY-27) to where I want to go.
Maps on us gives me:
- Same as above up until I-495
- I-495 to the Cross Island Expressway
- Cross Island to Southern State Pkwy
- Southern State Pkwy to Norman J Levy Pkwy
- Norman J. Levy to Sunrise Hwy to where I want to go.
Since the drive takes me through a very good portion of the NYC area,
I'm especially worried about traffic, even if it's on a Saturday
afternoon/evening.
So could anybody tell me which way they think is the best or if
there's an even better way to get there?
Thank you very much,
Jean-Luc
Sancho Panza
"Jean-Luc Manigat" <jma...@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:77440305.04050...@posting.google.com...
> Hello,
>
> I am a Montrealer who will be in the NYC area for the week-end; I have
> two people to visit, one in Newark, NJ and the other in Baldwin, NY,
One quick way would be to take the turnpike or 1&9 to the Goethals Bridge,
over Staten Island, to the Verazzano. At the end of the bridge, bear left,
following the Belt Parkway signs to Kennedy and staying on that when it
becomes the Southern State.
Steve
No, he wanted to avoid traffic. :P Follow 1010 or 880 AM, they give
traffic reports every 10 minutes and ALWAYS cover the Holland and
Lincoln Tunnels. From I-280, to get to the Holland Tunnel, just take
Exit 17A (there's a split, with half the highway going straight which is
where you want to go, and half curves left which goes to the Turnpike
and the Lincoln Tunnel), and follow that to NJ 7 east, which goes
straight into US 1-9 Truck east, which goes into signs to the Holland.
Someone else has to help with the NY end of things there, but you can
get spit out on the Belt (heavy traffic) or go east onto the Grand
Central Parkway (a little better). The Cross Island _Parkway_ usually
doesn't have traffic, the Van Wyck usually does.
--
Steve
GO YANKEES!
Civil Engineering (Course 1) at MIT
Mike Tantillo
Ugh, mapping software.....don't bother looking for "Norman J Levy
Parkway" on signs....its known as the Meadowbrook Parkway to everyone
else on the planet aside from those mappers.
Anyways, you have two choices, neither of which involve cutting
through Manhattan (guaranteed to add a lot of tiem to your trip if you
do that): go north, or go south.
Going south, take I-280 or I-78 east to I-95 south, the NJ Turnpike.
Get off at Exit 13, bear left after the tolls for I-278 east over the
Goethals Bridge. Stay on I-278 east over the Verrazano Bridge. Bear
left upon crossing the Verrazano onto the Belt Parkway east towards
JFK Airport. Stay on the Belt for 23 miles, and then take Exit 25A on
the left for Southern State Parkway east. Take Exit 20S for Grand
Ave. south into Baldwin.
Going north, take I-78 or I-280 east to I-95 north, following signs
for "Exit 18W, George Washington Bridge". When I-95 divides into
Express and Local lanes, go right onto the local lanes. Follow signs
for the lower level of the George Washington Bridge. Cross the
bridge, and stay in the center lane on the bridge. You'll come to a
fork....take the right fork (its a quick shift to the right
essentially) for I-95 north...you'll be in the left lane at this
point. Stay in that lane, and follow it to Exit 2 for Harlem River
Drive. Take the Drive to Exit 17 for the Triboro Bridge. Bear right
after the tolls onto I-278 west towards NY Airports and Eastern Long
Isalnd. Go straight onto Grand Central Parkway east. Take Exit 9 for
I-678/Whitestone Bridge....you'll want to bear to the left eventually
and take I-678 north towards the Bridge (but you wont cross the
bridge). Take EXit 16 on the LEFT for the cross Island Parkway. Stay
on the Parkway to Exit 25A on the left for Southern State Parkway.
Exit 20S for Grand Ave south to Baldwin.
Hope that helps....personally, I'd go the northern route, as its
usually faster then the Belt.
Allston Parking Refugee
> Streets & Trips, Yahoo! Maps and Mapquest all give me the same
> directions:
> - I-280 to I-95 to Linclon Tunnel
> - Through Manhattan via 34th St
> - To Midtown Tunnel & I-495
> - I-495 to Van Wyck through Grand Central Parkway
> - Van Wyck to Belt Parkway
> - Belt Parkway to Sunrise Hwy (NY-27) to where I want to go.
>
> Maps on us gives me:
> - Same as above up until I-495
> - I-495 to the Cross Island Expressway
> - Cross Island to Southern State Pkwy
> - Southern State Pkwy to Norman J Levy Pkwy
> - Norman J. Levy to Sunrise Hwy to where I want to go.
You should get a traffic report on 880 AM (every 10 minutes on the
8's) or 1010 AM (on the 1's) to choose a Hudson River crossing.
The second route sounds better, but do *not* look for signs for the
Norman J Levy Parkway. It's called the Meadowbrook Parkway, though
signs for it just show an M in a shield. (Why do these mapping sites
always use the most obsucre ceremonial road names?) Signs for Sunrise
Highway refer to it as route 27.
Depending where you're going in Baldwin, it might make sense to get
off the Southern State at Grand Avenue, or to get off the Meadowbrook
at Merrick Road westbound and then make the first left onto Mill Road
to South Main Street southbound to Atlantic Avenue eastbound.
-Apr
Sir Ray
This is the most direct route, but allow plenty of time if you plan on
driving it anytime other than late at night - in particular, on Sunday
Afternoon/Evening the traffic on the SI Expressway and Belt Parkway
Eastbound is generally murder...
BTW, If traffic is really crappy on the Belt when you come to the
Brookville Blvd exit, take that and stay on Sunrise Highway - Once you
get past Green Acres (about 10 blocks down the road), traffic usually
moves decently, and you'll can get to the heart of Baldwin (Grand
Ave.) in about 10 or so minutes (if the Traffic Light Gods are with
you).
Allston Parking Refugee
> Streets & Trips, Yahoo! Maps and Mapquest all give me the same
> directions:
> - I-280 to I-95 to Linclon Tunnel
> - Through Manhattan via 34th St
> - To Midtown Tunnel & I-495
> - I-495 to Van Wyck through Grand Central Parkway
> - Van Wyck to Belt Parkway
> - Belt Parkway to Sunrise Hwy (NY-27) to where I want to go.
>
> Maps on us gives me:
> - Same as above up until I-495
> - I-495 to the Cross Island Expressway
> - Cross Island to Southern State Pkwy
> - Southern State Pkwy to Norman J Levy Pkwy
> - Norman J. Levy to Sunrise Hwy to where I want to go.
You should get a traffic report on 880 AM (every 10 minutes on the
Mike Tantillo
To the LIE from the Holland, simply take Exit 3 upon emerging from the
tunnel (Exit 3 is Brooklyn and leads to Walker Street. You must cross
Varick St (no turns permitted) and then bear RIGHT at the fork in the
road. Stay on Walker until you cross Lafayette St, and take the next
left after that onto Centre St. Go 4 - 5 blocks to Kenmare St and
turn right. Kenmare St becomes Delancey St which feeds into the
Williamsburg Bridge. Use the inner roadway on the left, and take the
fork on the left for the ramp for I-278 east towards Queens. Then
take Exit 35 for I-495 east, the LIE. Take the LIE to Exit 31 for the
cross island parkway south (yes, the exit is open), and then Exit 25A
on the left for southern State, and Exit 20S for Grand Ave south.
If you want to use the lincoln tunnel, get as far to the right as you
possibly can when approaching the tolls. Use the RIGHT LANE of the
RIGHTMOST TUBE in the tunnel. Upon reaching New York, you'll be
forced to the left if you are in any other lane, but in the right most
lane of the right tube, you have a choice....go right towards 34th St
and Madison Square Garden. After taking the right fork, swing as far
to the left as opssible and make the very first left turn you can onto
West 36th St. Take 36th St all the way across town (you'll cross 9th,
8th, 7th, Broadway, 6th, 5th, Madison, Park, Lexington, and 3rd
Aves)...one block past 3rd Ave at Second AVe, stay to the left, and
you'll find yourself in the midtown tunnel. Emerge from the midtown
tunnel, pay toll, and you're on the LIE, I-495 east.
FYI tolls: GW bridge, Goethals Bridge, Holland and Lincoln Tunnels: $6
entering NY, free entering NJ. Triboro, Throgs Neck, Whitestone
bridges and the Queens Midtown/Battery Tunnels: $4 each way.
Verrazano Bridge, free eastbound, $8 westbound.
Williamsburg/Manhattan/Brooklyn/Queensboro Bridges, free.
Larry Scholnick
I happen to like their technology better. When you click on a different
spot on the map, they don't send you the whole page again; instead they send
your browser just what it needs to display the modified map; it's
substantially quicker. When you zoom in/out, your brower just displays the
map differently and usually does so without requesting more data from the
web site.
I don't know if their route is better on this trip, but it is certainly
different.
"Jean-Luc Manigat" <jma...@sympatico.ca> wrote
Mike Tantillo
> jma...@sympatico.ca (Jean-Luc Manigat) wrote:
> > Streets & Trips, Yahoo! Maps and Mapquest all give me the same
> > directions:
> > - I-280 to I-95 to Linclon Tunnel
> > - Through Manhattan via 34th St
> > - To Midtown Tunnel & I-495
> > - I-495 to Van Wyck through Grand Central Parkway
> > - Van Wyck to Belt Parkway
> > - Belt Parkway to Sunrise Hwy (NY-27) to where I want to go.
> >
> > Maps on us gives me:
> > - Same as above up until I-495
> > - I-495 to the Cross Island Expressway
> > - Cross Island to Southern State Pkwy
> > - Southern State Pkwy to Norman J Levy Pkwy
> > - Norman J. Levy to Sunrise Hwy to where I want to go.
>
> You should get a traffic report on 880 AM (every 10 minutes on the
> 8's) or 1010 AM (on the 1's) to choose a Hudson River crossing.
>
> The second route sounds better, but do *not* look for signs for the
> Norman J Levy Parkway. It's called the Meadowbrook Parkway, though
> signs for it just show an M in a shield. (Why do these mapping sites
> always use the most obsucre ceremonial road names?) Signs for Sunrise
> Highway refer to it as route 27.
I'm surprised the mapping software didn't refer to Sunrise Highway as
the "POW/MIA memorial highway"!
>
> Depending where you're going in Baldwin, it might make sense to get
> off the Southern State at Grand Avenue, or to get off the Meadowbrook
> at Merrick Road westbound and then make the first left onto Mill Road
> to South Main Street southbound to Atlantic Avenue eastbound.
>
you mean Atlantic Ave westbound :)
Also, you could get off at Sunrise Highway westbound as well.
Personally i'd advise getting off at Grand AVe, just since the
southern state can often be congested from Peninsula Blvd all the way
out to the meadowbrook. Grand Ave is a fast road for the most part,
and it wouldn't add much time to most baldwin destinations.
> -Apr
Polkajig
>Get off at Exit 13, bear left after the tolls for I-278 east over the
>Goethals Bridge. Stay on I-278 east over the Verrazano Bridge. Bear
>left upon crossing the Verrazano onto the Belt Parkway east towards
>JFK Airport. Stay on the Belt for 23 miles, and then take Exit 25A on
>the left for Southern State Parkway east. Take Exit 20S for Grand
>Ave. south into Baldwin.
As I said, take the Bayonne. Less traffic than on the Gotheals Bridge.
>Going north, take I-78 or I-280 east to I-95 north, following signs
>for "Exit 18W, George Washington Bridge". When I-95 divides into
>Express and Local lanes, go right onto the local lanes. Follow signs
>for the lower level of the George Washington Bridge. Cross the
>bridge, and stay in the center lane on the bridge. You'll come to a
>fork....take the right fork (its a quick shift to the right
>essentially) for I-95 north...you'll be in the left lane at this
>point. Stay in that lane, and follow it to Exit 2 for Harlem River
>Drive. Take the Drive to Exit 17 for the Triboro Bridge. Bear right
>after the tolls onto I-278 west towards NY Airports and Eastern Long
>Isalnd. Go straight onto Grand Central Parkway east. Take Exit 9 for
>I-678/Whitestone Bridge....you'll want to bear to the left eventually
>and take I-678 north towards the Bridge (but you wont cross the
>bridge). Take EXit 16 on the LEFT for the cross Island Parkway. Stay
>on the Parkway to Exit 25A on the left for Southern State Parkway.
>Exit 20S for Grand Ave south to Baldwin.
That's nuts. If he does this, he should stay on the Grand Central to either
the Cross Island Parkway South to the Southern State Parkway, take the Van Wyck
Expressway South to the Belt Parkway East to the Southern State, or stay on the
Grand Central onto the Northern State Parkway and then take the Meadowbrook
south to the Southern State west to Exit 20S for Grand Avenue.
Greg Pniewski
Bernardsville, NJ
AKirsc5653
Highway or the Southern State. Yes, The Belt gets congested. And anything going
through Manhattan can only be worse.
:-) Andrew
Sancho Panza
"Mike Tantillo" <mjtan...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:e48ae109.0405...@posting.google.com...
> Steve <smal...@hackmit.edu> wrote in message
news:<409a698e$0$566$b45e...@senator-bedfellow.mit.edu>...
---------------
If one object of the exercise is to present directions to a driver who is
utterly unfamiliar with the intricacies of the Lincoln Expressway, crossing
midtown and finding the Queens-Midtown or finding Walker, Lafayette, Centre,
Kenmare, Cross Island, etc etc, some of these suggestions certainly pose
stringent challenges for newbies and novices at any number of points.
Mike Tantillo
Don't knock it before ya try it...this is one of the fastest routes
to/from the triboro from most of Long Island. You're doing an awful
lot of east/west traveling on north/south routes, and can often be FAR
faster then Grand Central Parkway. Its my route of choice heading
to/from Long Island usually.
>
> Greg Pniewski
> Bernardsville, NJ
Mike Tantillo
I just pointed out all he needs to know. Exit 3 from the Holland,
straight across Varick and left at the fork...thats where walker st
is. how to get to 36th st...use the right lane of the right tube,
right at the fork, swing to the left and take the first left
turn...then no more turns needed to get to the QMT. Thats why I used
descriptions....
George Kowal
Jean-Luc Manigat wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I am a Montrealer who will be in the NYC area for the week-end; I have
> two people to visit, one in Newark, NJ and the other in Baldwin, NY,
> and I was wondering what the best way was to go from one to the other.
> I would rather plan ahead of time as it would be the first time I
> would be driving in the NYC area.
I have driven close variants of this trip many hundreds of times and I
would suggest either going through Manhattan via the Holland Tunnel then
the Williamsburg Bridge, or taking the Goethals Bridge to Staten Island
then over the Verazzano Bridge.
Anything else is fairly out of the way.
Some parts of Newark are closer to US 1&9, while other parts of newark
are closer to I-280.
The routing through Manhattan involves crossing lower Manhattan on city
streets. the ride through Staten Island is basically all highways.
>
> Since the drive takes me through a very good portion of the NYC area,
> I'm especially worried about traffic, even if it's on a Saturday
> afternoon/evening.
>
It's a toss-up between the two.
> So could anybody tell me which way they think is the best or if
> there's an even better way to get there?
>
> Thank you very much,
>
> Jean-Luc
The only difference is that on the way back West you'll pay $8 to cross
the Verazzano Br Westbound, while the similar ride through the city
involves no tolls.
If going through Manhattan, you would either take I-280 to Exit 17A,
then follow signs for the Holland tunnel, or take US1&9 North over the
Skyway whichs leads you into the same place.
Exiting the Holland, I always keep left around the loop for the last
exit, Canal St, then quickly at the 2nd light go left 1 block on W
Broadway, then right at the next light onto Grand St. Stay on Grand St
anywhere from 12 to 18 blocks (doesn't matter) turn left, say on Bowery,
go 2 blocks North then turn right on Delancey St. Thw "Willy"
Williamsburg Bridge is directly at the East end of Delancey St. Stay
left coming off the bridge onto the "BQE" I-278 East, then up a few
miles exit onto the "LIE" I-495 East, then anyway you choose, say LIE to
the Meadowbrook Pkwy to your destination.
If by Staten Island, then US 1&9 South to a tricky unmarked traffic
light just South of Elizabeth, NJ, 1 light South of Park Ave, there's a
turning slot inbetween the lanes of 1&9 going into a light where you
turn left, go North a few hundred feet then come upon the entrance to
I-278 East with signs for the Goethals Bridge. This way you just stay on
I-278 East through Staten Island, go over the Verazzano Bridge (aka
"Gintified Gangplank" by local lingo), left lanes coming off either the
top or bottom lanes of the bridge go directly onto the Belt Parkway, and
follow that East to LI.
If driving through Manhattan especially, I would advise seatbelt usage,
since just this past weekend I was stopped going around a city block by
the local revenuers. Me, of course, I got off via "professional
courtesy", but most other folks do get to donate to NYC's budget that way.
If you want a Mapblast view of lower Manhattan, click on this, you can
get a larger map by clicking on the larger map icon. The Holland Tunnel
is at your left and the bridges to LI are on your right.
GK