Best driving route Philadelphia to/from Long Beach Island?

August 19, 2013 8:26 AM

Google is giving me several suggestions for driving from Philadelphia to/from Long Beach island... which is the best?

OK, Philadelphia... I need your help one more time. My daughter's treatment at CHOP back in May/June was very successful. We have to bring her back for a follow-up appointment next Monday. We're using this as an opportunity to take a short family beach vacation at Beach Haven on Long Beach Island.

We fly into PHL Friday morning and will get a rental car. We'll be setting off from the airport at around 9:30 am to drive to Beach Haven.

Monday morning we need to drive from Beach Haven to CHOP and be there before lunchtime.

Google gives the following routes... which would you suggest based on traffic at those times? (Routes can be reversed for the trip back.) Or is there some entirely different route which would be better? We know from our time there before that 76/676 will generally be very slow, so we'll allow lots of time to get to CHOP on Monday morning.

- I-76 to I-295, then smaller roads through Marlton and Medford, then NJ-72 to LBI.
- I-76 to I-676, then Admiral Wilson Blvd, then Rte 70, then continue through Marlton etc as above.
- I-76 to I-295, then Atlantic City Expy, then Garden State Pkwy, then NJ-72 to LBI.

posted by valleys to Travel & Transportation (8 answers total)

Response by poster: And I should have said that by 'best' I mean the option that will give us the least time stuck in very slow or non-moving traffic. We're happy taking smaller roads over highways if that means a more pleasant experience, not necessarily the fastest/shortest route.
posted by valleys at 8:31 AM on August 19, 2013

I don't think you'll hit much traffic headed towards the shore leaving on Friday morning. I'd say plan on any route taking much longer if you were headed down in the evening. When are you coming back?
posted by dobi at 9:16 AM on August 19, 2013

Best answer: It sounds like you'll be driving back to Philly mid-morning on a Monday. That's generally a pretty good time to be driving, any of those routes should be pretty clear. Your best bet is to check traffic right before you leave, mainly to check for accidents or something unusual that would create atypical traffic patterns.
posted by DoubleLune at 9:23 AM on August 19, 2013

Best answer: I would personally go the first way, but it's not a huge difference between any of them.
posted by wrok at 9:39 AM on August 19, 2013

Best answer: Also may be helpful: 1060AM, KYW, has regional traffic on the 2's.
posted by DoubleLune at 9:53 AM on August 19, 2013

Best answer: I agree with everyone saying you're not going to see much traffic at the time headed to the shore. I'd suggest Rte 70, but that's only because past Marlton it goes down to 2 lanes and is pretty scenic.

Also agreeing with DoubleLune on KYW. Traffic on the 2's has saved me more than once.
posted by timesarrow at 9:54 AM on August 19, 2013

Best answer: I just moved from Cherry Hill, NJ, after 10 years of living off of Rt 70. Avoid Rt 70 if you're driving during rush hour. Rush hour from anywhere in South Jersey to Philly is busy, but Rt 70 can be infuriating in its slowness. However, it sounds like you don't need to be at CHOP until late morning, in which case, like timesarrow said, the Rt 72/70 route is quite scenic.
posted by ellenaim at 10:04 AM on August 19, 2013

Response by poster: Ok, thanks for all the help folks.
posted by valleys at 6:51 AM on August 20, 2013