Help Urgently Needed: Driving Time Alexandria Bay to Long Isand

hi there,
4 people are trying to make plans and are waiting on the answers
so I hope I can get some help from you guys.

I'll be driving relatives from the Ivy Lea Bridge near
Alexandria Bay in northern New York to Uniondale on Long Island N.Y.
I've got a AAA triptik that tells me that it's roughly 385 miles, which
means that at 55 mph no stops, no problems, it would take 7 hours.
However, life isn't like that, inevitably there will be construction
somewhere, traffic jams, bathroom breaks etc.

We have to be at Uniondale at 5p.m. without fail.
I don't want to drive much above 60-65mph. I want to make 2
bathroom stops (say 15min each).

What time do we need to leave Ivy Lea in order to get there?

someone going to the nassau crapiseum?

It is going to take forever. Even if you can make decent time to NYC,
getting out to uniondale is a royal pain in the ass!!. If it was me, I
would take rte 12 out of watertown, then east on 90 to albany, then 87
from there.....

look to cross at the tappanzee and then leave your car in yonkers,
train into the city, train out to long island....

just whatever you do, dont take 81 south all the way down, you will
regret it.....

if it were me, I would leave at like 2 or 3 am, and get some Z's in the
car if you drive all the way to uniondale, or spend some time in nyc,
and train it across when you need to....

also, you dont sound to swift in the car, and the highway on LI are
gonna kill ya.....know where you are going, and check the map every 10
minutes....

wrote:

someone going to the nassau crapiseum?

? um... no?
I don't know what that is.
I'm driving my mum, sister & an elderly friend of my mum's to an event
in the Uniondale area.


It is going to take forever. Even if you can make decent time to NYC,
getting out to uniondale is a royal pain in the ass!!. If it was me, I
would take rte 12 out of watertown, then east on 90 to albany, then 87
from there.....
just whatever you do, dont take 81 south all the way down, you will
regret it.....

that's one of the things I was wondering about. AAA has me taking the
81. I asked them to give me the fastest way down and I was wondering
about the 87 but all they would tell me was that they'd route me
whichever way I wanted. sheesh

can you give me more specifics about problems on the 81?

if it were me, I would leave at like 2 or 3 am, and get some Z's in the
car if you drive all the way to uniondale, or spend some time in nyc,
and train it across when you need to....

also, you dont sound to swift in the car,

I'm not sure why you'd say that. Is asking for info suspect? I'm going
to be driving two elderly ladies to an event that we simply can not miss
and I'm trying to think of all the possibilities before they happen.

I've driven solo from Buffalo to Monroe N.Y. in one go, I've driven all
through Europe, England, Aruba etc., did a trip 2 yrs ago Germany,
Italy, France, Belgium, Holland and so back to Germany. ('twas
excellent & highly recommend the Renault Kango btw.)
So not too sure about the swift remark here.

and the highway on LI are
gonna kill ya.....know where you are going, and check the map every 10
minutes....

check: to looking at map every 10 min. or less.

"qazz" wrote in message
...
hi there,
4 people are trying to make plans and are waiting on the answers
so I hope I can get some help from you guys.

I'll be driving relatives from the Ivy Lea Bridge near
Alexandria Bay in northern New York to Uniondale on Long Island N.Y.
I've got a AAA triptik that tells me that it's roughly 385 miles, which
means that at 55 mph no stops, no problems, it would take 7 hours.
However, life isn't like that, inevitably there will be construction
somewhere, traffic jams, bathroom breaks etc.

We have to be at Uniondale at 5p.m. without fail.
I don't want to drive much above 60-65mph. I want to make 2
bathroom stops (say 15min each).

What time do we need to leave Ivy Lea in order to get there?


Electric trains don't leave smoke.

the nassau crapiseum is what a lot fo us call the nassau cloiseum, home
to the NHL's New York Islanders.....

rte 87 is the most sensible way to go, you want to make the jump to the
other side of the hudson to the north of NYC, and by taking 81, you are
well west of where you need to be and taking 12 from watertown saves
consdierable time in getting to rte 87...

once you are on 87, opinions will vary as to how to get "through" nyc
and others will know better than me, but I might even condsider getting
on 287 at the tappanzee and staying on that all the way to 95, then
south to the throggs nex bridge and onto long island....that may be
coming back to far east and may be excessive to avoid the cross bronk
expressway(rte 95) through the bronx which can take hours to move a
mile at times....

If I was drving people to an event that they simply could not miss, I
would either leave at 2 or 3 am and have plenty of time on the other
end, or leave the day before and get a hotel room....one can not
predict NYC and its traffic, lane closures and all the othe rwonderful
things that can delay you there, so its either leave the day before,
drive overnite and check into a room to rest up before the event, or
get a room and stay over the folloing nite...

I made the remark about swift driving, as when someone posts to a
newsgroup needing such detail, while already having a tripkit and
times/miles, I wonder why they cant figure it out themselves?

bottom line is though, say no to 81 as if it were crack.....take it
only as far as watertown and then rte 12 south......to utica....to
albany....87 south....from there opions will vary greatly....although
my earlier idea of 287 looks worse and worse as I check out this map,
it is the "easiest"....

Chuck

wrote:

the nassau crapiseum is what a lot fo us call the nassau cloiseum, home
to the NHL's New York Islanders.....

rte 87 is the most sensible way to go, you want to make the jump to the
other side of the hudson to the north of NYC, and by taking 81, you are
well west of where you need to be and taking 12 from watertown saves
consdierable time in getting to rte 87...

once you are on 87, opinions will vary as to how to get "through" nyc
and others will know better than me, but I might even condsider getting
on 287 at the tappanzee and staying on that all the way to 95, then
south to the throggs nex bridge and onto long island....that may be
coming back to far east and may be excessive to avoid the cross bronk
expressway(rte 95) through the bronx which can take hours to move a
mile at times....

If I was drving people to an event that they simply could not miss, I
would either leave at 2 or 3 am and have plenty of time on the other
end, or leave the day before and get a hotel room....one can not
predict NYC and its traffic, lane closures and all the othe rwonderful
things that can delay you there, so its either leave the day before,
drive overnite and check into a room to rest up before the event, or
get a room and stay over the folloing nite...

I made the remark about swift driving, as when someone posts to a
newsgroup needing such detail, while already having a tripkit and
times/miles, I wonder why they cant figure it out themselves?

bottom line is though, say no to 81 as if it were crack.....take it
only as far as watertown and then rte 12 south......to utica....to
albany....87 south....from there opions will vary greatly....although
my earlier idea of 287 looks worse and worse as I check out this map,
it is the "easiest"....

Chuck


beauty. that's the kind of info I needed.
I'm voting for leaving the day before myself - I've driven through N.Y.
city, so I know it can get nasty, though not to Long Island so I don't
know what I'm getting into there - hence my questions.
One of my party wants us to leave at 10 a.m. the day of, if you can
believe it. Which is totally nuts imho, so I came in looking for more
expert opinions than my own.
thanks!

The "expert" here, with the juvenile nicknames for buildings, has not
given you any real good advice by telling you to leave fifteen hours in
advance and take some trains too. The biggest factors will be weather
and day of the week. Monday through Friday get to the Tappan Zee by
two, weekends get there by three and in both cases you'll probably have
an hour to spare. Bad weather or a nine car pileup will cause problems,
but you knew that.

how is taking 12 down to 87 into nyc and then look for someone else to
guide you from there not giving good advice?

Had I known it was 2 little old ladies being driven down, I would have
never mentioned trains, etc......

I like that you are sending her the same way I am, but only giving her
an hour to spare....yikes!!

Chuck