Re: Best Route Between Washington, D.C. and Buffalo N.Y.
- From: "Scott M. Kozel" <kozelsm@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 09 Jan 2008 21:57:22 -0500
slinky481@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
A hybrid approach would be 270-70-99-350-322-970-80-153-219.
I think this is the shortest distance to Buffalo from DC, although I
don't know if it beats your other route time-wise. At 30 miles less
distance, it's probably competitive though. You'd be on limited
access highway for the first 200ish miles until you get to 350, then
again on 80 for a couple exits, then finally for the last 25 miles
into Buffalo. The rest would be 2-lane rural, slow through the towns
but fast in between.
I did some number crunching today, and found some interesting things.
On Fredericksburg VA to Harrisburg PA, the all-Interstate route (95,
695, 83) is actually 23 miles longer than using US-17 to I-81; or 186
miles compared to 165 miles. That US-17 segment is nearly all a 4-lane
highway (all of it if you use I-66 to I-81), and using that and I-81 to
bypass the Washington and Baltimore area when heading to Harrisburg (or
the reverse trip), sounds like an excellent idea. The preferred route
by Google Maps is I-95, I-495, I-270 and US-15, which matches what Mike
Tantillo posted; apparently skirting the western edge of D.C. and
avoiding the Baltimore area provides better travel times than the
all-Interstate route (95, 695, 83), even though the respective mileage
looks similar (I did not calculate the totals for via I-270 and US-15).
I ran some routes in Google Maps between Richmond VA and East Aurora
NY. Details below:
The Google Maps preferred route is the all-Interstate route of 95, 495,
270, 70, 76, 79 and 90 to Buffalo, and then local road to East Aurora;
that is 564 miles, taking about 9 hours and 8 minutes, which is an
average speed of 61.8 mph.
I ran two separate legs (Richmond-Williamsport, and Williamsport-East
Aurora), and combined the data to get the totals for similar to the
route that I suggested in my original post (via Harrisburg, US-15 to
I-390, etc.). That is 483 miles, taking about 9 hours and 16 minutes,
which is an average speed of 52.1 mph.
Conclusions: The via-Williamsport route is insignificantly longer
time-wise, and it is 81 miles (14.4%) shorter, almost 3 gallons less
fuel needed, and there are no tolls, and over 90% of the distance is on
highways with not less than 4 lanes. North of Harrisburg the traffic
volumes should be much lighter and more pleasant that what is typical on
the all-Interstate route segments in PA and NY (70, 76, 79 and 90).
The via-Williamsport route will have a number of interesting highway
stuff to see, and for me anyhow that route has a lot higher aesthetic
appeal -- all factors considered, that is a much better routing for me.
--
Scott M. Kozel Highway and Transportation History Websites
Virginia/Maryland/Washington, D.C. http://www.roadstothefuture.com
Capital Beltway Projects http://www.capital-beltway.com
Philadelphia and Delaware Valley http://www.pennways.com
.
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