Liz5959

Flying into Providence tomorrow, to take DD to have an overnight at Conn. College in New London. This will hopefully cement her choice.

I have no problems getting to New London from PVD, it's just that I seem to have serveral options for getting from New London to Jamestown.

#1. I95 to exit 3 to RI 138 to Jamestown.

#2 I 95 to exit 5 to RI 102 to RI 4 in Wickford, to Jamestown (this is what AAA advises)

#3 I 95 to Groton to Rt 1 to Jamestown (Do I have to get back on 95 to cross river to get to Groton?)

Note: I'm doing this once on Thursday eveing and twice on Friday (Good Friday) Any tips, suggestions, specific traffic nightmares??

milemarker0

Go with optin #1....they are about the same time wise...I actually think option #2 is slightly longer, and a little bit more confusing if you are not familiar with RI.

Just a heads up that you will be on a sort of scenic country road (138) past farms, URI, etc...for a while, then it merges with Route 1 for a couple miles and then branches off towards Jamestown/Newport, but you'll just follow the signs for 138 East the whole way.

Mapquest used to always show this route, but a few months ago changed to Option #2....which I think is a mistake.

rkkwan

#1 is good.

But if you're considering #3, a better and faster way is to get off Exit 92 of I-95 in CT. Go down Rte 2 to Hwy 78, which is a freeway around Westerly to get to US1. US1 from there to the Jamestown Bridge is a easy 4-lane that's fast.

Liz5959

Thanks for the help....I, too, was surprised that AAA listed #2 as it's first option. It looks longer, seems silly to go further north to just head back south, but I didn't know about how to compare 138 to 102 in terms of road quality (lanes, stop lights, general traffic)....

rkkwan, I like your idea. Do you think that US1 will have traffic issues on good friday?

milemarker0

Oddly enough, if you do option #3 you'll actually be going too far South to then head up North....so that route is also slightly longer....but if you're looking for scenery along the way, it might be nice. I don't really think ANY of those options will be dramatically congested during Good Friday, you're most likely to hit the most traffic on the 95 portion in Connecticut...

sprin2

Just did #1 today. Very easy, pretty drive, no traffic. We decided it was the easiest way to get to Newport from DC.

rkkwan

US1 is very quiet all the time.

138 can be pretty slow at times. It goes through Kingston, where URI is.

102 is a very quiet road through some semi-rural areas. Pretty narrow road, with some interesting curves. I used to blast around on that road at high speeds quite often.

Mlgostyla

We travel from Hartford to Newport (or Jamestown)once or twice a year and really like the RT 1 option. We've never hit traffic.

Liz5959

Thanks to all, just checking in after the family seder. Glad to know all three options are ok. Since I have to do the drive 3 times, maybe I'll pick a different one each time to compare.

If she does go to school there, I'll be doing the drive often enough, my parents have a house in Jamestown. I'll report back..... Happy Easter and Passover to all.