🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Oct25.231408.766@eastend.uucp> steve@eastend.uucp (Steven Roth) writes:
>>>In <1992Oct14.003847.4790@bnlux1.bnl.gov> kushmer@bnlux1.bnl.gov (christopher kushmerick) writes:
>>>
>>>>Is there a way to get from Long Island to New Jersey without driving over a 
>>>>toll bridge? If so, how?
>>> . . .
>So, if you're on the South Shore of Long Island, take the Belt Parkway
>through Brooklyn to the Brooklyn Bridge (which is free), exit onto the
>FDR Drive South which will take you around the tip of Manhattan
>(called the Battery) and up the west side.  You'll be on West Street.
>At Canal Street, you'll see signs for the Holland Tunnel to NJ.  It's
>free going TO NJ.

Gee... I always take the Manhattan bridge, cross Manhattan on Canal
Street (right off the bridge, you don't have to drive around Manhattan
finding to find it), and follow the signs to the Holland Tunnel.  Yes,
the Manhattan Bridge is under construction, but then so is the Gowanas
that you would have to take from the Belt to the Brooklyn Bridge. 
Sometimes, if I'm in the mood to deal with Brooklyn (says this
Brookyn-born Long Islander :-), I'll take Flatbush Ave to the Manhattan
Bridge.  On good days, it's quicker than the Belt->Gowanas->BQE.


>If you're on the North Shore, you'll probably want to go via Queens to
>the Queensboro Bridge (which is free), exit south to 34th Street and 
>head west to the Lincoln Tunnel, which will take you to NJ for free.

Hmm... from the 59th Street Bridge (what real New Yorkers call what is
"officially" named the Queensboro Bridge) you're sending people down the
already packed and always under construction FDR Drive?  No way!  Do
yourself a favor, go straight to 5th Avenue and make your left to go
downtown.  Also, you have to judge traffic.  If it seems like a "good"
day (that's good relative to the rest of the time), then take 35th
Street.  You don't have to worry about turning onto the right roadway at
the Lincoln Tunnel (and avoiding some windsheild washers), it's a little
more direct, and you avoid playing chicken with the idiots who can't
read "DON'T WALK" signs starting at about Herald Square (Broadway, 6th,
and 34th) and ending around 8th Ave.

>The hitch is that for the price of a toll on, say, the Triboro Bridge
>(onto the Harlem River Drive North and ultimately onto the George
>Washington Bridge), you can cut about 30 minutes from your travel time
>because you'll be on better and wider roads.  If you do take the
>Triboro, make sure you take the Manhattan exit, or you'll be making
>the same mistake that gave "Bonfire of the Vanities" one of its
>premises.

Why would you take the Harlem River Drive?  There is more traffic on the
Harlem River Drive (don't you have to merge with the Henry Hudson Pkwy
before getting on the bridge?) than if you go directly up the Major
Deegan Expressway.  On the Deegan, stay in the left lane up until the
GWB and follow the signs.  My significant other's parents live in
Rockland and I take the Deegan all the time to get to the GWB (ultimatly
the Palisades Pkwy).

However I agree, for $2.50 it's less of a hastle to buzz across the
Triboro and up one of the parkways to the GWB.  The catch is if you are
travelling to Central Jersey, the Goethals Bridge or Outer Bridge
Crossing are better choices.  The problem there is the $5, one way toll
on the Verazzano Bridge.  But if you're returning then you've paid the
toll and they don't collect the toll from Staten Island to Brooklyn.
-- 
scott barman			| <This space intentionally left blank>
scott@asd.com			|
 (I can barely speak for myself, you expect me to speak for my employer??)