Getting on the Gowanus

nathann8

Hi

Just wondering if anyone can enlighten me as to the easiest way to get on to the Gowanus Expwy westbound (to get to the Verrazano) from south slope. I have tried a few times at Prospect Ave & 3rd Ave, but that entrance ramp always seems to be closed due to construction. I just end up driving around aimlessly....sometimes that's fun, but not when I got places to be.

Any info would be appreciated!

Thx

kal46

If the entrance ramp is closed there, just turn onto 3rd Ave and follow it all the way down. You will be driving under the highway the whole time. Eventually there will be an entrance ramp from 3rd St back onto the highway just before the bridge. I think it's around 68th St or so

stacey

What Flexi said and if you find that the highways are really backed up I tend to take 39th Street to Ft. Hamitlon Pkway and ride Ft. Hamilton all the way to around 74th Street where the last entrance to the Verrazano is.

domino

Both good options - depends on the day and the time of day though.

Third Avenue may be a nightmare due to delivery trucks (or some "cruising" activity esp. right before the 63rd street entrance ramp) .

4th Avenue is an option as well - no buses and if the lights happen to be synchronized it is very fast until about 86th Street. It speeds up again after 86th street but you only have to go down to 92d street and then make a left. Go three blocks - entrance is on right.

brooklynjack

3rd Ave entrance is closed till about 11:30 daily M-F for the HOV/bus lane going into the tunnel

idlewild

Any time before 11:30 A.M. I would stick with 4th Ave. It gets a tad heavy by 9th Street and 17th Street but after that it should be okay even if the lights are synched north bound. Make a left on 92nd Street and go up to the Verrazano a few blocks up.

oldcrowd

Subject: When the ramp is closed.

Just make the left and follow third Ave out to your destination. You can catch the highway at 65th street. Third Ave has a lot of trucks, commercial traffic and is ugly;however for these very reasons it moves quickly.

youbetcha

Now depending on where you are in the Slope, you might want to try any of these possibilities.

If you're already on Hamilton Avenue take it toward Red Hook and make the left turn over the Battery Tunnel exit and get right on to the Gowannus going to Staten Island not Atlantic Avenue. If you're at 3rd and Prospect where the entrance is you could take 3rd avenue and get on around 64th street. You're better off taking 4th Avenue, though, fewer trucks, to 60th street and make a right then a left on to 3rd and get on there. If you're all the way at the south end of the slope take 18th street from 7th Avenue and left on 6th Ave and left at I think 23rd or 24th street and then a left on 4th Avenue.

A way that I go is to take the Prospect Xpwy (p/u @ 7th Ave) to Ocean Parkway, make a right at Bay Pkwy past 86th St. and then take the Belt over to The Verazzano. That can be pretty fast either early in the morning or middle of the day. And really is half a dozen of one or six of the other of any of the other directions. Day of the week and tIme of day is most important. I have to go to Southern NJ at least once a month for the last 15 years and so I've tried every way imaginable. They all suck in the end.

8thandprez

I much prefer the Coney Island-Monmouth tunnel.

brooklynjack

youbetcha wrote: If you're already on Hamilton Avenue take it toward Red Hook and make the left turn over the Battery Tunnel exit and get right on to the Gowannus going to Staten Island not Atlantic Avenue.

If the 3rd Ave entrance is closed this will be closed too

youbetcha wrote:
A way that I go is to take the Prospect Xpwy (p/u @ 7th Ave) to Ocean Parkway, make a right at Bay Pkwy past 86th St. and then take the Belt over to The Verazzano.

I think better is Prospect Exp to Ft Hamilton Pkwy to the BQE to the Bridge.

Alternatively: Take the Brooklyn Bridge and go out the Holland Tunnel then take the Gothals or the Bayone Bridge and save yourself some toll money

10 inch bologna

You could always just slam your car right through the barriers on Third Ave and be on your way.

nathann8

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I think i'll just not go to Staten Island.

brooklynjack

Nathann8 wrote: Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I think i'll just not go to Staten Island.

Good decision, especially with the new tolls $11 ($9 and change with EZ pass)

slopestar

I have experimented with this extensively:

I drive to Staten Island for work every morning, leaving 17th st near 8th ave at approx 7:30. I take Prospect Ave to 4th, then I make a right to 3rd ave just before I get stuck at a red (actual street varies slightly). Then I take 3rd to the onramp near 65th. It costs me 20 minutes from the time I get in the car until I reach the tolls in SI.

3rd ave is quicker than 4th ave at this time of day, mainly because of the school bus traffic and school bus dropoffs on 4th ave. I also played around with other routes to 3rd ave e.g., 18th, 20th streets. For awhile I had a great no-light route all the way to 3rd ave but that got messed up when they started construction on 5th ave.

I never tried any of the prospect expressway to ocean parkway route, does anyone have a time from the 7th ave on ramp to the Verazzano? Please mention time of day.

Also, does anyone have a recommendation for food and/or coffee on 3rd ave, ideally southbound? I would love to find a reliable and quick place to stop on those days when I oversleep.


Tollwise, I have found a nonfradulent way to cut the toll in half: It's called carpooling, it's big on the west coast.

brooklynjack

slopestar wrote: Tollwise, I have found a nonfradulent way to cut the toll in half: It's called carpooling, it's big on the west coast.

Yea, they have car pool stands in the East Bay people waiting to get a ride into San Francisco.

http://www.ridenow.org/carpool/

idlewild

slopestar wrote: Also, does anyone have a recommendation for food and/or coffee on 3rd ave, ideally southbound? I would love to find a reliable and quick place to stop on those days when I oversleep.

There's a Korean 'by the lb' place on 40th or 41st Street and 2nd Ave. It's actually pretty good. They have a breakfast grill and newspapers as well tables in the back. There's a a drive-in parking lot so you won't have to worry about traffic cops. Other than that, I believe it's Dunkin Donuts before 20th Street and some bagel places on the northbound side.