Traveling to Brooklyn archived

n66

Aug 3, 2009 at 5:22am Edited

I have to go to a family wedding in Williamsburg, Brooklyn this Wednesday evening. I plan to leave around 5 or 5:30 and I'll have several kids with me. If I take the Verrazzano Bridge and SI Expressway, am I likely to hit major traffic problems?

I'm trying to avoid the Holland Tunnel/Lower Manhattan route due to previous bad traffic experience. If anyone can tell me what to expect I'd be grateful.

Hahaha

Aug 3, 2009 at 5:27am

You're better off taking the Holland Tunnell to the Williamsburg Bridge. The BQE is a mess around that time of the day - regardless which direction you're taking.

joan_crystal

Aug 3, 2009 at 7:40am

Agreed. The Verrazano Bridge will take you to the opposite end of Brooklyn from where you want to be and traffic on Brooklyn's major roads can be every bit as bad at that hour as driving through Manhattan. Depending on where in Williamsburg you plan to go, the Holland Tunnel to the Williamsburg bridge would be the much better option.

fredct

Aug 3, 2009 at 7:54am

BQE = Better Quickly Exit

Unless you hear there's a 45 minute delay at the Holland, you're probably better off taking that than going all the way around.

This may be sacrilege with kids, but have you considered the train? Depending on how many kids, their ages, etc. Williamburg is loaded with subway stations, but I'm not sure which is worse... bringing kids on public transit, or sitting with kids in traffic in a car.

wendy

Aug 3, 2009 at 8:11am

You can also combine fred's suggestion of the train with driving, such as driving into Manhattan and parking at a lot near a subway which can take you to Williamsburg.

Also, if you're going to drive, consider - if you have the option - of leaving much earlier like 4 or so and spend time hanging out near your destination before the wedding.

A lot depends on the kids' ages and numbers as fred said.

n66

Aug 3, 2009 at 8:14am

Thanks for all the advice. Unfortunately, I do have to drive. From talking to my 85-year-old-Brooklyn-native father, it sounds like I should take the Holland Tunnel to Canal Street to the Manhattan Bridge. If Canal Street looks bad, can I get south to take the Brooklyn Bridge instead?

wendy

Aug 3, 2009 at 8:28am

When you get out of the tunnel you can take the I believe third right and follow signs for the Brooklyn bridge. Although google maps shows it as a left and calls it Exit 4. Here's the link to google maps.

http://tinyurl.com/nslgf6

While this might be better than crawling along Canal you'll hit court traffic heading toward the Brooklyn Bridge. Try to leave earlier.

eliz

Aug 3, 2009 at 9:12am

Canal Street traffic always crawls but it's actually pretty short and even in bad traffic I find it's the best option. You may also hit some pretty bad inbound Holland tunnel traffic around that time. I would allow at 1.5 hours at least.

n66

Aug 3, 2009 at 9:18am

I'm going to try to leave around 4:45. I have to get home from work, get dressed, and pack up my kids. My husband, who works in the city, is taking public transportation. At least I can get him to drive home!

jerseyjack

Aug 3, 2009 at 2:56pm

Why would you consider the Brooklyn bridge over Williamsburg or Manhattan bridge since both are closer to Williamsburg than the Brooklyn Bridge?

n66

Aug 3, 2009 at 5:17pm

Well, the Manhattan Bridge is my first choice. I think for where I'm going, on Flushing Avenue, there's not much difference between the Brooklyn & Manhattan Bridges.

kanddy

Aug 4, 2009 at 12:05pm Edited

edited.

n66

Aug 6, 2009 at 8:22am

Thanks everyone for your useful advice. I ended up taking the Holland Tunnel to Canal, Manhattan Bridge to Flatbush Ave and then Myrtle Street to Williamsburg. Elapsed time 1 hour 10 minutes. It took me about 40 minutes to get to the Holland tunnel from Clifton, with some traffic, then the rest was fine. It also helped that I only had 2 older kids in the car with me, instead of the 4 kids I had originally planned to take.