If I just take the toll roads, they are completely empty, even at rush hour. It’s nice to have that option when I’m in a rush to just pay $3 and get to my destination on time instead of stressing out in traffic and possibly making poor decisions due to stress.
None of them. Side roads are almost always better around here.
Literally any road is preferable to the M6 in the uk
Not gonna name the road for hopefully obvious reasons, but there’s a back road near me that’s named after a town that used to be along it’s side back in the 1910s, before it burned down. It’s a state highway now, and it connects my town to another town about 40 minutes. There are no stores, attractions, businesses, etc on it. There’s an interstate that also connects the two, that only takes 15 minutes. I always take that back road. That stretch of interstate is prone to rock slides, and that’s my excuse, but in reality, I just love that drive. It’s almost entirely state land, forested, a couple really nice meadows. About half of it is paved, half is gravel. I love it so much. I rarely have a reason to go to that other town, but sometimes I just make the drive to make the drive.
I live in the Philly suburbs, our highways are all a bit of a clusterfuck but if I had to choose
I476 (Northeast Extension to the PA turnpike) between about midcounty and Lansdale, maybe Quakertown isn’t usually too bad traffic wise, above that is probably the prettier drive but there is always some mind-breakingly bad traffic and/or construction whenever I go that way.
I76 (Schuylkill Expressway) between the city and Conshohocken is kind of nice if you’re on it at like 3AM when there’s no traffic, some really nice views of Manayunk and Boathouse Row and such, most of the rest of the time it’s a parking lot.
I76 (PA Turnpike) is usually pretty nice further out west when you’re away from major cities
It’s an absolute madhouse of different lanes and is always busy, but the NJ turnpike somehow manages to keep traffic moving better than nearly any other highway I’ve ever driven on.
A lot of the smaller highways further up in the mountains (usually) don’t have too much traffic and are very scenic, but you have to be at least an hour and probably 2 or 3 out of Philly to get the most of that, and at that point I often can’t recommend getting off the highway to interact with the locals.
Does the interstate that takes 15 minutes actually take 15 minutes? If that interstate is crazy congested, the state highway might actually be faster. Or maybe this is some rural part of America, I don’t know.
That’s how I found it, actually. We were new to the area (and it is rural), and there was a rock slide on the interstate that blocked traffic for a couple days, and I needed to get to a mechanic that was over there. Had to find an alternate route. Never looked back since. Lol.
But yes, unless there’s a rock slide, wreck, or they’ve closed it for construction, it generally takes 15-20 minutes.
It is nowhere near me, but the seabridge north of Wollongong, the one that goes to Sydney via St Helens, is pretty awesome.
But yeah, highways aren’t as fun as real roads, but are functional for getting from point A to point B without having to slow down for point C in the middle.
