Driving I-95 from Richmond to New York and Boston

Interstate 95 along the eastern corridor, particularly that stretch of tar between Richmond Virginia and Boston (the Megalopolis), has earned a reputation as a treacherous drive. Despite its teeth, millions of travelers hit this roadway everyday. I've been among them at various times of the year over the last 15 years. I've tackled 95 during rain and snow, during daylight hours, during nighttime, summer, winter, spring and fall, and holidays, weekends and weekdays.

I've found the absolute best time to challenge I-95 between Richmond and New York City, either north or southbound, is during the middle of the night. Again after years of being stung by traffic jams, bottlenecks and absurd congestion I far prefer this alternative. Nighttime driving along 95 is no desolate drive, you'll be surprised how many travelers opt for this time of day to make the pilgrimage north or south along infamous I-95. Rest areas are well lit and travelers are moving about.

Rest Areas and Full Service Travel Centers: In Maryland (Chesapeake House and Maryland House) and along the Jersey Turnpike the service centers are open, though many of the restaurants in them shut down around midnight. Although I was surprised this past Christmas to find a Starbucks open in a New Jersey travel center. Apparently they do this on the weekends--stay open later possibly even all night. You'll even find that many of the full service tourist centers have added WiFi services, so if you need to log on to your laptop you'll have little problem finding a hotspot.

You'll find that the major metro regions -- Baltimore and DC I'm thinking of particularly-- provide beltways around the areas and once upon a time I would have opted to drive those, but in recent years I've discovered that I have less traffic jams when I just follow I-95 signs straight through. In Baltimore this means you follow the highway through the Fort McHenry Tunnel that literally puts you underneath Baltimore Harbor. In New York City straight along I-95 carries you up and over the George Washington Bridge. Traveling southbound you'll get a view of the NYC skyline if you glance to your left; northbound you'll glance right. Beware: I've nearly be sideswiped taking in the skyline at night with a carefree glance. I reiterate: there is still a significant traffic volume through the major metro areas even at midnight and later.

How to drive on I-95: When you hit New York City and New Jersey yu better be alert and ready to drive with a mix of defensiveness and aggressiveness. Especially passing through NYC I-95 lanes are narrow and rough, concrete barriers allow little leeway for mistakes and you pass literally up underneath the city, lots of very tight, dark and rutted underpasses and drivers are confident and even aggressive--you must be a sure-footed driver. I actually consider this type of driving not unlike a sporting event--long-distance driving is not to be taken lightly and you really msut be mentally and physically prepared. Sound silly? Not if you've ever done this drive alone and in the middle of night. I've been nearly purposely run off the road by a trucker, I've seen a car in front of me have a major tire blow, I've been a passenger when a flatbed truck lost a stack of huge tires into our travel lane, and I've seen a car come sailing over a concrete barrier from opposing lanes and land behind me in oncoming traffic. Be alert and ready for anything.

Tolls: This stretch of I-95 is dotted with tolls. Northbound travelers pay more than southbound--no charge for GWBridge southbound. I think my latest calculations put a northbound toll total at around $27 between Richmond and NYC, so make sure you have cash. Frequent travelers along this route have E-Z Passes and you'll have to pay extra attention when coming up on the toll centers--some lanes are reserved for E-Z Pass holders only and do not take cash--so look for cash or combo lanes. And pay close attention to the traffic merges when coming out of the booths--where lanes have expanded for tolls they do the inverse--you'll lose lanes quickly and discover you merge with really fast moving traffic really quickly if you're not watching the road ahead.

Resources for Driving I-95:

Outside of a good road map a few other relevant resources include the NJ Turnpike Authority. The Visitors section of the NJTA website provides maps, traffic conditions and locations for service centers.

The Maryland Dept of Transportation website is ugly and not user-friendly so I'm not linking to it--useless unless you'd like to pick through PDF files and miniscule font. This needs a serious update!

Virginia DOT provides a pretty good index of links to a wide range of travel info that may help getting along the I-95 corridor in VA.

happy trails.