Driving from Ontario (crossing in Buffalo) to Cape Liberty - route recommendations?

[colgal77]

Hello we are making the trek from SW Ontario to Cape Liberty in the few weeks.  We will be staying the night before in the Newark area.  I am looking for route suggestions from Buffalo (we will be crossing in Fort Erie, although we could also cross in Niagara Falls) to Cape Liberty.  I have put it into google maps and has a couple of routes that vary quite a bit.  Anyway have any suggestions... Also what kind of toll highways will be come across.  Do you have to have cash?  Thanks!

[mking8288]

From Fort Erie, it looked like the I-190 route toward 390 East thru Corning/Elmira, onward toward Binghamton and then I-81 South thru PA is your best route, then I-380 to the Delaware Water Gap (just a one-way toll of $1 collected on the return trip, westbound only ... EZ-Pass accepted & if I remember corrrectly, cash lanes are available - sometimes with a slow down, traffic is usually not bad on weekend mornings)  This would skip driving on the NYS Thruway into Syracuse before heading south on I-81 south to Binghamton (no tolls from there thru DWG & onto NJ) - difference of about 20 miles vs. the alternate shown on Google Map.  

 

This route would result in minimal to no tolls until you get down to NJ nearing the metro NY area, depending on how you are routed by Google or Waze - and, where you are staying for the night ... you could "plot" & plan a route to avoid toll, slower with the go-around.  Avoid driving on & using the NY Turnpike and/or Garden State Parkway and you shouldn't run into any tolls (I think ...) 

 

Or, you can consider picking up a EZ-Pass On-The-Go Tag, available at NYS Thruway toll facilities & at Fort Erie, NY ahead of the trip or day of travel.  

http://www.thruway.ny.gov/ezpass/otg/index.html

 

 

Edited April 24, 2019 by mking8288

[TSS Alex]

Having made this trip using both routes, I'd rather pay the toll on the Thruway from Buffalo to Syracuse, then I-81 down to I-80. Route 20A (the connector between I-190  and I-390) becomes "Main St" for a number of towns and is prone to random summertime jam-ups for no particular reason. Once you're on I-380 (whichever way you choose to get there), wake up Waze or Google and see what traffic looks like on I-80 approaching the Delaware Water Gap (the Pennsylvania-New Jersey border). This is one of the strangest sections of road on your trip - 18 miles (29 km) that can take anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours to traverse. If it is severely backed up, you'll be re-routed down Route 33 to I-78, which will bring you straight into Newark.

 

[PelicanBill]

Hello from Rochester NY.  I make this drive for our cruises often.

Unless you order EZ-Pass ahead you may as well pay the cash toll of $6.15 (credit cards not accepted.)

Pick up a ticket at the Buffalo barrier just after I-290 and pay as you leave at Exit 39 to I-690 which connects to I-81 southbound. An EZ-pass only saves you pennies and must be set up ahead of your travel.

 

Use the rest area upon entry to Pennsylvania after Binghampton, as that is the last one until you reach the port or your hotel. Ditto what was said about the area down I-80 just after leaving I-380 and slow traffic.  Be careful - high accident zone.