We drove to NYC this week, and through research can say that Route 80, not Route 17, is the way to go, and will be for many years.
Route 17 is turning into Interstate 86 and the construction has started in earnest, which means so have delays.
We took 80 on the way down and 17 on return, for research purposes.
80 is the superior road in the first place, as an interstate. It has more lanes and is graded better.
(It is little-known that, on all interstates, one mile out of every five miles has to be straight, so an airplane can land on it. This may be little-known because it is perhaps by no means true. I am not sure, but it gives you something to do on the interstates, try to reckon out that one straight mile every five.)
It has delays, of course. But not like 17, these days, where long stretches of the road are one lane, by design. This means when something goes wrong, it is essentially no lanes, until the problem is fixed. We saw a back-up of about 5 miles around Liberty. (Going the other way, luckily.)
It's too bad, because 80 is rather charmless and forbidding. Route 17 has the Roscoe Diner and fine views of the Delaware. (In 80's defense, it has a beautiful stretch at the D. Water Gap, but it is fleeting and hard to enjoy.)
Anyway, get used to it. I guess it is a good opportunity for someone to start a good diner somewhere around Whippany.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
No comments:
Post a Comment