Which Manhattan streets to avoid with a truck?

August 25, 2008 2:40 PM

Rental truck to NYC: Which streets on my route forbid such vehicles? Which streets would be just plain inconvenient to drive on with such vehicles?

I'm not looking forward to driving a rental truck in Manhattan, and want to avoid as much hassle as possible. I'm moving from Maryland to, let's say, near Columbus Circle. I would be driving into Manhattan Sunday morning/early afternoon, and was originally planning on taking the GW Bridge and then heading down the West Side Highway.

Then this AskMefi Question scared me.

So what are my options, and which would be best? Will my UHaul or Ryder truck be unwelcome on particular streets or avenues in the neighborhood? Is there anything else I should be particularly cautious about?

posted by aswego to travel & transportation (7 comments total)

Perhaps you should try calling 311 (212-639-9675 outside of new york). It's a general information line that you can call for just about anything. If they didn't have the answer, they would be able to point you in the right direction.
posted by crickets at 3:06 PM on August 25, 2008

I just moved to NYC with a rental truck - you CANNOT take the west side highway. (For that matter, if you're planning on taking the Palisades Parkway to the GWB, you're also out of luck. Take 9W instead.)

We got of the GWB and then just headed down B'way for the remainder of the trip. Have someone looking out on the right for crazy cabs that want to pass your truck, and you should be fine.

However, we saw loads of cargo vans, trailers, and RVs run along those roads without a problem. So, if you want to take one of those things instead of a truck, you should be fine.
posted by Herman Hermanson at 3:45 PM on August 25, 2008

You can take trucks through the lincoln tunnel. I did it about 3 weeks ago when I moved.
posted by Mach5 at 3:57 PM on August 25, 2008

The Lincoln Tunnel is open to trucks. (Drove through with one about two years ago.) Take that into Manhattan and either go north on Dyer Ave (which is the road coming out of the tunnel) to West 41st St., or south on Dyer to West 35th St. If north, turn left onto 41st then right onto 10th Ave. If south, turn right onto 35th and right onto 10th Ave. (I put in both ways here because the Tunnel gets clogged at the weirdest times. So you can take whichever turn looks clearest.)

Head up 10th Ave. to W 55, 56, or 57 and choose your poison from there. It should be a fairly stress-free drive for you, actually. 10th, 11th, and 12th Avenues are more suited for vehicular traffic than pedestrian.
posted by greenland at 5:21 PM on August 25, 2008

Just avoid U-Haul and you'll be fine. If you're curious, PM me and I will relate a lengthy tale of woe involving trying to get a large, heavily-loaded U-Haul from NYC to DC. Cliffs Notes version: it broke down. Repeatedly.
posted by exogenous at 6:17 PM on August 25, 2008

If you take the GW Bridge, you will need to take the upper level. (And avoid the West Side Highway, too.) But if you are coming from Maryland, there's no reason not to take the Lincoln Tunnel, since it is both further south (closer to Maryland) and involves less driving through local streets in Manhattan.
posted by andrewraff at 6:41 PM on August 25, 2008

Trucks are forbidden on the Brooklyn Bridge, and the overhead beams are too low anyway. Ditto for the Holland Tunnel.

Any road called a Parkway is closed to trucks, again because of low overpasses and narrow lanes.

Take these rules seriously unless you want to peel off the top of the box like a sardine can (and end up paying the City for bridge repairs).

Trucks are ticketed if they're parked on side streets overnight. You have to use the main roads. The place to get information is the number Crickets gave.
posted by KRS at 1:47 PM on August 26, 2008