Best Driving Route to Providence, RI
 

Wondering which route is better to Providence, RI from Indiana talking 80 or 90 towards that area?

Through Erie PA (I-90) and using the New York State Thruway will be your shortest and fastest way.
I-80 through PA and north on I-81 to I-84 east has no toll but is farther.

Depending on where in Indiana you start, When you google it, it says that 80 to 95 is about 5 minutes faster than 90 to 146.

The 80 - 84 route will be longer and you will have to decide if you want to wander across CT on rt 6 or go on 84 to 90 to 146.

That said, you are MUCH more likely to hit bad traffic on the 80-95 route.

But you are more likely to get snow on the 90 route.

So I'd watch the weather and if there is no snow, take 90.

We really need to know where you are starting.

The one I would do is
Indianapolis
Columbus
Wheeling
Harrisburg
Allentown
Garden State Parkway
Tappan Zee Bridge
New Haven
Providence

Since you asked 80 vs 90 I assume you're starting on the Indiana Toll Road. Although 90 runs you through the middle of Cleveland, after that you're probably pretty smooth the rest of the way. I'd never do the most direct 80 to 95 (through the Bronx). Almost guaranteed to sit in traffic, and the GWB toll would probably cost you more than the NYS Thruway toll anyway. The GSP to Tappan Zee is better, but I still try to avoid 95 in CT if I can. (And actually, I think I-287 is faster than the GSP if you do that.) 84 is better, but there's the construction in Waterbury, and depending on time of day Hartford (and in the evening even Danbury) can be a problem and there isn't really an easy way to get from 84 to Providence without going up to 90 anyway. So I'd do 90.

Good points, very good points, from usroadman.

We drive frequently between Virginia and Cape Cod.

Time of day is all important getting around NYC, though I have given up on the George Washington Bridge because of the construction on the NY side and breakdowns on the Cross Bronx.

When we are going through Providence on the way to Cape Cod, we generally take the Merritt Parkway from Westchester to Milford CT because, like the GSP, there are no trucks. But if you arrive after about 3:30, you are toast on either route because of commuter traffic.

We get back on I-95 at Milford. There may be brief delays in the exit 42-43 area, but most of the construction in the New Haven-Stony Point area is finished, and there is never much traffic after Old Lyme.

There is often a heavy radar presence outside Providence where 295 joins 95. There us a patch of woods there where eastbound cars cannot see what may be multiple patrol cars. Since speed limits change thereabouts, many get caught.