Selma NC to Southeastern MA

[4tfamily]

Hey There,
We're sitting at a roadside campground in Selma, NC deciding which way to go home tomorrow. We know we have to avoid some areas due to tunnels and propane, our GPS will route us around those, but what are areas we are going to want to avoid? Best routes, considering time of year and possible mountain snow?
Thanks so much!

[Craig_R]

Considering the current winter storm activity just west of the I-81 corridor, I think I'd want to stick close to the coast even if it means having to deal with traffic.

I think I would try to avoid the GWB and the Cross Bronx Expressway by either taking I-287 around the Newark, NJ metro area and across Westchester County picking up I-95 again just before the CT state line. If traffic on the NJ Turnpike is doing pretty good your other option would be to run it right up to I-80 west. Take I-80 west for about 3 mile to US 17 north. It's about 21 miles from there up to where you can pickup I-287 at the NY state line.

Where you are headed for southeastern MA, your options are pretty limited. I used to operate out of Franklin, MA before I retired and if your destination were Franklin and your choices were to go up through Hartford across the MA Pike and down I-495 or to go up through Providence and then up 495 to Franklin the difference is 2 miles. That should give you an idea of whether you might want to opt for any of the routes that would get you off of 95 when you reach New England.

One of the things that may help you to make decisions is that once you get about 50 miles into NJ you should be able to hear WCBS 880 AM and WINS 1010 AM. They both give traffic reports for the NY/NJ metro area every 10 minutes on the 8's and on the 1's respectively.