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Thanksgiving -- Driving conditions — Brooklynian

Thanksgiving -- Driving conditions

thedudeabides
thedudeabides
edited November -1 in Park Slope
I'm visiting PS again (coming up Wed morning) and had a few questions for the PS veterans.

1) Does parking availabilty ease up like it does on summer weekends? I'm taking a W.A.G that lots of people are hitting the burbs for their bird.

2) For T day itself, I need to drive to NJ. Is the Holland tunnel a bad idea (my GPS always wants to take me that way) or should I be safe and take the Verrazano instead? The last time I tried going from PS to NJ I got stuck in what seemed to be a very unusual delay (I kept seeing Taxi drivers getting out of their cars to see WTF was going on).

Thanks for your help and enjoy your Butterballs.
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Comments

  • brooklynjack
    brooklynjack
    Going out through the Holland is probably safe. Coming back I'd take the Gothals or Bayonne to S.I. then the Verrazano
  • new2hood
    new2hood
    parking's pretty easy on t day.
  • domino
    domino
    For God's sake avoid the VZ on holidays!!! Every single time I have gone over that monument to Brooklyn evisceration I have gotten stuck!!!!! If not on the actual bridge itself then on that misbegotten road they call a highway. GAK!!!! When I have used the Holland or Lincoln tunnels I have breezed through.
    Probably save yourself the exposure to whatever is leeching off that dump as well!
  • tybur6
    tybur6
    What's a W.A.G ?
  • bradedward
    bradedward
    Wildly Assuming Guess?
  • maxx99
    maxx99
    don't mean to hijack the thread but what about going to Philly on t day morning? should i avoid the VZ?
  • brooklyngigcenter
    brooklyngigcenter

    Subject: Re: Thanksgiving -- Driving conditions

    TheDudeAbides wrote: I'm visiting PS again (coming up Wed morning) and had a few questions for the PS veterans.

    1) Does parking availabilty ease up like it does on summer weekends? I'm taking a W.A.G that lots of people are hitting the burbs for their bird.

    2) For T day itself, I need to drive to NJ. Is the Holland tunnel a bad idea (my GPS always wants to take me that way) or should I be safe and take the Verrazano instead? The last time I tried going from PS to NJ I got stuck in what seemed to be a very unusual delay (I kept seeing Taxi drivers getting out of their cars to see WTF was going on).

    Thanks for your help and enjoy your Butterballs.
    First and foremost, thank you for your deep and abiding concern for my butterballs.

    Second, driving across the VZ is a horror on any given weekend or holiday, and Thanksgiving is only going to be worse. Avoid it like the schweinflu.

    Third, anyplace you try to go on Thursday is going to be horrible, so the VZ may not necessarily be any worse than any other route. Hope this helps! Good luck!
  • stacey
    stacey

    Subject: Re: Thanksgiving -- Driving conditions

    [quote="TheDudeAbides"2) For T day itself, I need to drive to NJ. Is the Holland tunnel a bad idea (my GPS always wants to take me that way) or should I be safe and take the Verrazano instead?

    I go to NJ on TDay also. We take the Holland about 2:30 in the afternoon and we hit traffic in Manhattan and then on that highway before you hit the entrance to the 1 and 9. After then it is pretty smooth sailing. Coming home (about 9 p.m.) the worst traffic is about 2 miles before the tunnel and getting into the tunnel.

    Follow what everyone else says AVOID THE VZ. On weekend nights and holidays they close 2-3 lanes on the SI Expressway and you will sit in traffic for at least an hour before you even get close to the bridge. Even without the lane closures the traffic is pretty horrible. (If you know the side streets of SI then you have no problem).
  • youbetcha
    youbetcha
    Parking in the city on T day is not the issue that it would be on a normal working day. No alternate side of the street parking and I believe you don't have to feed the meter. All major roads will be a difficult trip. But I'd especially avoid the the Belt, the Gowannus, the VZ and the SI Xpwy. Take a wide mouth plastic bottle with you. You may need it.
  • brooklyngigcenter
    brooklyngigcenter
    youbetcha wrote: Parking in the city on T day is not the issue that it would be on a normal working day. No alternate side of the street parking and I believe you don't have to feed the meter. All major roads will be a difficult trip. But I'd especially avoid the the Belt, the Gowannus, the VZ and the SI Xpwy. Take a wide mouth plastic bottle with you. You may need it.
    It would probably help to catheterize yourself beforehand, LOL
  • b-n-b68
    b-n-b68
    You should know that after you exit the Holland Tunnel there are a ton of detours right now. Driving back to Brooklyn yesterday from NJ we bailed on the Holland and ended up driving to the Lincoln. Didn't want to deal with the traffic and delays.
  • thedudeabides
    thedudeabides
    Thanks for the suggestions! Sorry I'll be stealing one of your residents in a few months. But an aparment on Caroll St 1 block from the park will be opening up at least :)
  • idlewild
    idlewild
    Where are you going in NJ? Is PATH/NJ Transit an option?
  • doldrums
    doldrums
    maxx99 wrote: don't mean to hijack the thread but what about going to Philly on t day morning? should i avoid the VZ?
    If you're going to Philly, you must take the VZ to the Goethals. Taking the tunnel will easily add 15- 20 minutes to your trip.
  • maxx99
    maxx99
    Makes sense..Maybe I can take the first exit after the VZ and take backroads to get to the 95 South?
  • idlewild
    idlewild
    maxx99 wrote: Makes sense..Maybe I can take the first exit after the VZ and take backroads to get to the 95 South?
    No such thing. Staten Island doesn't connect to NJ except through the bridges. I would just take the Goethals. You can take the Outerbridge/440 to I-95 as well, but I believe you run into lights. Actually, when it's all said and done, I would just take the hour ride to Philly by Amtrak. It's a lot simpler and very efficient.
  • maxx99
    maxx99
    I was thinking that but it's the 3 of us plus we need to get to lancaster county actually (1 hour+ outside of philly). Amtrak RT would be pretty expensive.

    How bad will coming back to Brooklyn be on T day? (thinking of leaving philly around 7-8pm)
  • brooklynjack
    brooklynjack
    Don't forget the toll on the Verrazano Bridge crossing to SI is now $11 cash and $9.14 if you have an EZ pass not to mention the time you will loose waiting to pay it.

    But you can always decide before you leave. Listen to 1010 WINS and WCBS


    Check the DOT's live webcams

    http://nyctmc.org/

    And see what the traffic looks like
  • idlewild
    idlewild
    maxx99 wrote: I was thinking that but it's the 3 of us plus we need to get to lancaster county actually (1 hour+ outside of philly). Amtrak RT would be pretty expensive.

    How bad will coming back to Brooklyn be on T day? (thinking of leaving philly around 7-8pm)
    Most nights, coming back to NYC is a big pain. Holiday or not. It's all one big crap shoot. If you take the Outerbridge back to SI, or the Goethals, you'll run into 3 to 5 mile bottle-necks as soon as you hit the SIE. The Holland Tunnel, I find is a little faster. Get on the NJT to I-78 to the Holland, when you get into Manhattan take the West Street exigt, make a left on West Street, bare left into the Battery Tunnel. Most of all, make sure you have Ez-Pass so you're not waiting in line with the rest of the cash paying schlubs.
  • maxx99
    maxx99
    thanks for all the advice, i guess i'll check my iphone for traffic conditions once i get closer to NY and decide based on that. Hoping I can make the trip back at night in under 4 hours..is that possible?
  • brooklynjack
    brooklynjack
    Idlewild wrote:
    If you take the Outerbridge back to SI, or the Goethals, you'll run into 3 to 5 mile bottle-necks as soon as you hit the SIE.
    Which is why I like the Bayonne Bridge. There are only a couple of miles of SIE to go before the VZB. Coming home last year on Sunday night after the long Christmas weekend, and we come from the north so 280 to the NJT to the Bayonne Bridge we slowed to 325 - 30 mph getting to the VZB but no slowing after that to Prospect Expway.

    Don't have an iPhone so don't know about checking that. Can you look at the DOT web cams from it?
  • maxx99
    maxx99
    Good question, I'll have to try that out on my phone. Now I just hope that the NJT won't be a parking lot..probably wont be able to take backroads to avoid it right?
  • idlewild
    idlewild
    You can get DOT Webcam as an App for iPhone?
  • maxx99
    maxx99
    I don't think there's an app but you might be able to access the main website. Can't try myself right now since I don't have reception at work
  • idlewild
    idlewild
    Actually, I just found the app, "NY Traffic Cam". I believe NBC News (NY) has a traffic cam in their app as well.
  • maxx99
    maxx99
    Nice, hope it's accurate..I'll definitely get that for my drive
  • brooklynjack
    brooklynjack
    The DOT web cams has a mobile version

    http://nyctmc.org/mobile/

    Does an iPhone have a browser or do you need an app for everything?
  • maxx99
    maxx99
    That's pretty cool, thanks for posting.

    You can access it with the iPhone, it has the Safari browser which works almost like the desktop version except that it can't handle Flash.
  • vidro3
    vidro3
    Leave Thursday morning and go through the city to the Holland tunnel. If you can't leave by Noon i think you'll be screwed.
  • maxx99
    maxx99
    I was actually planning on leaving before 10am..I'm getting conflicting feedback, some coworkers are saying it's totally fine, others said I should leave at 6am to avoid being stuck for hours..

    So 10am should be good you think?
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