takemealong

Hi,

A friend of mine will be meeting a group tour at the Crowne Plaza, Elizabeth, NJ next week. He will be coming north on I-78 from Harrisburg, PA via the Allentown area. His directions have him exiting I-78 towards EWR, then taking Route 1 South to the hotel.

Is there an alternate exit that he could take that off I-78 that avoid the airport traffic? Could he take Exit 29 off Route 78, then take 287 South to Exit 1, then Route 1 North to the hotel.

He is not concerned that an alternate route would add time to the trip. He just wants to avoid the traffic immediately around the airport.

Thanks for any assistance that you can provide.

RoamsAround

Yes, he could take that alternate route but why would he do that. For what it is worth, I fly into/out of Newark Airport often (and always drive to/from the airport) and never encounter any traffic in or around the airport. It doesn't matter what time of day, there's literally no traffic issues. Your friend is needlessly worrying. I'd venture to say your friend will run into more traffic driving north on Route 1 than he will going the recommended way. Lots of traffic lights on Route 1 - it moves along very slowly.

nytraveler

The recommended route is easier, faster - and EWR really doesn;t have a lot of traffic.

He's complicating things needlessly.

Seamus

Have driven that exact route many times and agree with the previous posters that your friend is needlessly complicating things. Stick with 78 through to 1 South (marked as 1 and 9 if I recall correctly).

takemealong

Thanks to all for your help. I'll share your comments with my friend. I had looked at the satellite views of his alternate route prior to posting. All of you confirmed what I thought, i.e., that his alternate route would go through lots of stop and go areas.

I've only flown in/out of EWR on three occasions. Though I was not the driver, my recollection was that the traffic around the airport was no worse than that around BWI or Dulles, the two airports that I drive to fairly often.

—takemealong

nytraveler

I have never seen any traffic around the airport (within the meaning of the act in NYC) - although rarely you can find traffic right at the terminals when too many cars try to pull in at once and block the road.