Columbus, OH to Cape Liberty

[kpauley]

I posted this on the Buckeye Cruzers forum with no response so I thought I'd try here. 

 

For those of you who have traveled from Columbus to Cape Liberty, did you take I-70E/I-76E or go I-71N to I-80E?  According to Google maps, there is less than 5 minutes difference in travel time between the two from our house.  Both routes have tolls, but I don't know how much.  I wondered if one has better traveling/road conditions over the other?  We would be traveling late August during the day.  

 

Also, we are planning to drive within an hour or so and stay  the night prior to the cruise and drive in the next morning.  Any recommendations on a city to stay?  I know this would probably depend on which route we choose to take.

 

Thanks

[138east]

You’re right to plan to stay an hour away.  When you decide on a route, post the date you need a hotel, number of people, budget, and any special requirements and we’ll make suggestions.

[thinfool]

Note that a large accident event on either route will erase any advantage of one route over the other.

Plan and learn to use google maps, waze or other traffic app to help you manage problems while enroute.

[TruckerDave]

5 hours ago, kpauley said:

I posted this on the Buckeye Cruzers forum with no response so I thought I'd try here. 

 

For those of you who have traveled from Columbus to Cape Liberty, did you take I-70E/I-76E or go I-71N to I-80E?  According to Google maps, there is less than 5 minutes difference in travel time between the two from our house.  Both routes have tolls, but I don't know how much.  I wondered if one has better traveling/road conditions over the other?  We would be traveling late August during the day.  

 

You can take I71 (north) to I76 (east) to I80 (east) that will avoid all tolls in OH and PA.  Once you get into NJ on I80 take I287 (south) to NJ rt 24 (east) to I78 (east) right to Bayonne.  You will only have 1 toll on I78 (the part from basically where it crosses the NJTP to across the bridge into Bayonne).   {side note, on the reverse route you will have a toll on I80 leaving NJ. (you can enter free, but have to pay to leave...insert your own joke😉)

 

The I70/I76 combo (plus then the NJTP) is all toll roads once you get a little east of I79 near pittsburg.  August will be no problem weather wise, just traffic and any summer road construction. Not knowing what day of the week you are planning on doing this, but going east on a Sunday afternoon can get pretty busy on the eastern side of PA and NJ will folks coming home after the weekend and all the truck traffic heading that way for Monday morning deliveries.  Friday going east is prob the easiest with most folks heading out of the NYC area for so most of the major traffic will be going the other way. 

[lenquixote66]

2  suggestions:

 

1) Contact AAA

 

2) If you know anyone attending Ohio State I am sure there are students driving from campus to NJ for holidays.

[pacruise804]

If you take 80, be sure to gas up at the Loves (or other station) at Hubbard for cheap gas.  We have high gas taxes in PA and this can save 0.50 per gallon.

[PelicanBill]

The I-80 route has a lot more "open road" and one slow section near Stroudsburg PA.

The I-70/78 route passes close to several cities including Harrisburg and Allentown and the slow Washington PA section (similar to Stroudsburg.)  Accidents can make a huge difference.

 

I think the prevailing overall traffic speed would be better overall on I-80 and would choose that route barring any other intel.

[PelicanBill]

Oh and on the I-80 Route I would recommend the Sonesta ES Suites in Parsippany. I stayed there before a cruise 2 years ago.

[kpauley]

pacruise804 - Thank you for the tip on purchasing gas in Hubbard. 😃 Based on the information provided by TruckerDave above, we decided on I-80 across PA mainly to avoid the tolls in PA. OH’s gas tax is going up on July 1st somewhere around 0.10 to 0.11 a gallon but still much cheaper than PA.

PelicanBill - Thank you for the “open road” comment.  We’d prefer that option. I’ll check out the Sonesta in Parsippany.  We were looking at staying in either Stroudsburg or Parsippany. The closer to the port is better for me. 😃

[loltastic]

This is a great thread thank you from another buckeye!