# On the road -- Summer of 2021 in the Northeast



## MARC Rider (Aug 1, 2021)

Just a quick summary of our recent road trip -- from the motorist's point of view.

We drove from Baltimore to Maine, mostly using major interstate highways, though we did go out to the North Fork of Long Island to experience the Cross Sound Ferry.

Gasoline seemed to be $3.05 to $3.20 a gallon in all the states we passed through. Glad we got the hybrid SUV that was getting ~35 mpg on average.

They haven't even passed the Infrastructure Bill, yet I was amazed at all of the roadwork (and accompanying traffic jams) we encountered. Right off the bat, on I-95 around Edgewood, Maryland we had lane closures. Then they were doing work on the Verrazano Narrows Bridge which closed a lane, plus a short bit of closed lane on the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn near Coney Island caused a massive stop and go jam. Glad we had air conditioning in the car. The next day, we whizzed through Connecticut on I-395, but outside of Lowell, Mass. on I-495, more road work resulted in stop and go traffic. Silly me, I thought maybe I could just drop down to Mass 128 and drive around it, but Mass 128 was stop and go from Woburn to US 1. Surprisingly, given that it was a Friday afternoon, I-95 north of Mass 128 was running freely, at least until we got to the Piscataqua River Bridge, where they've been rebuilding the center median since 2012, and a lane was closed. But that was just a minor slowdown. On the Maine Turnpike, right before the Portland Airport exit, there was some serious roadwork which caused some stop and go traffic, but we were able to slip off right before that and get to our hotel with no problems. The traffic within the city of Portland was no worse than usual, and we had no problem getting around, or getting out of town to get up to the lake. Rural Maine had little road work, but they could sure use some on Maine Route 17 between Mexico and Oquossoc, which had frost heaves of such magnitude that I actually got a bit carsick. The roadwork on Maine route 4 around Madrid, which resulted in single lane stretches, and which I encountered 2 years ago, was still underway, though it looks like they're nearing the end, as most of the work was just laying new asphalt.

On the ride home, we decided to explore the cost between Portland and New Hampshire, which I've never seen, despite having spent summers in Maine since I was in elementary school. Of course, we experienced the clogged traffic on local roads and US 1 from Kennebunkport through Wells, Ogunquit, York Beach, Kittery, etc. By the time we were near the end, enjoying the view at the Nubble lighthouse, I fired up Google Maps and saw that the Maine Turnpike has the usual Sunday night jam halfway through New Hampshire. Thus, we continued through Portsmouth and rode NH 1A along the coast to Hampton Beach, and then NH 101 back to I-95, where the traffic was running freely. Not sure that was any better, as it was stop-and-go through Kittery and Portsmouth. We spent the night near Lowell. The next day we went to Matamoras, PA, about 230 miles via I495, I-90, and I-84. This took us about 5 hours, including a pit stop, a lunch stop, and a gas/pit stop, for an average speed of about 46 mph even though I was driving 70+ mph when I could. There was construction of a couple of places on I-84 west of Hartford, and just past Middletown, NY that resulted in some slow going. Also, the speed slowed down through Worcester and Hartford, and a couple of the ramps at some of the interstate junctions had some serious backups, even without construction. On the final day, we rode about 250 miles from Matamoras to Baltimore in about 5 hours, which, according to my GPS app, gave us an average speed of about 56 mph. We had 2 pit stops on that run, and no lunch break. The was some construction on I-81 near Hazelton, PA that resulted in top and go traffic, they're completely rebui8lding I-83 east of Harrisburg, which caused some slow traffic, and they've closed one land on the I-83 bridge connecting Harrisburg and the West Shore, which caused a little stop and go traffic.

My wife is thinking that when we go next year, maybe we should just take the train and rent a car in Maine or Boston. We could actually get up to the cabin in a single day, though we would have to take the 5:30 AM Acela to do so.

As for scenic points of interest that were new for us, they are


the Cross Sound Ferry, although I'm not sure if the drive through Long Island and the necessary encounter with New York City traffic was worth it,
The ride over the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. Next time, I'm going to be a passenger so I can gawk a bit more. On one side you get a full view of Manhattan spread out before you, on the other side, you get Lower New York Bay, Sandy Hook, and the ocean. I wonder if there's a local bus route that connects Staten Island with Brooklyn that uses the bridge?
Biddeford Pool on the Maine coast. It's about the only part of the south Maine coast that's not overrun with traffic. It's basically an island tied to the mainland by a tombolo, an interesting mix of summer people and working lobstermen, and a local market that also serves a nice seafood lunch, including, of course, lobsters. The place has a nice back deck to sit and eat with scenic views of the harbor. You have to drive through Saco and Biddeford to get there, but otherwise the traffic's not too bad. The rest of the southern Maine coast has its scenic spots, but don't go in the summer high season, as the traffic has to be seen to be believed. Portland traffic is like any small city, although the downtown area by the harbor is really, really busy on summer weekends, and parking can be a problem.


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