The Top 5 WORST Cities to Drive Through on the East Coast 

As a life long east coast resident, the drive from Philly to VA is soul sucking. Richmond to DC too.

The problem with Atlanta is the constant lane switching in an environment that is actively hostile to lane switching.

As an over-the-road truck driver, I choose to go through many of these cities late at night. I make my drive enjoyable by not stressing about the traffic on the road but enjoying the views. I enjoy going through cities at night when everything is lit up.

Mike’s not exaggerating when he says the BQE is backed up 24/7. I used to get off of work between 11PM-midnight, and sometimes it would take me 45 minutes to go the 6 miles back to my apartment.

I was recently dishearten as to how difficult it was to get through DC. I found 95 south of DC very backed up all the down to Fredericksburg for no apparent reason.

Boston has got to make this list. With I-90 and I-93, I-95 and 495 acting as beltways, routes 9 and 20, it still has wait times of around 4 miles an hour on most weekdays

One major thing they did in Baltimore was getting rid of the toll plaza after the tunnel on 95, it’s just ezpass cameras now and it helped with the awful backups that would happen there ALOT

The best way to avoid driving through NYC is to get off I-95 at the Garden State Parkway and take that straight up to the New York Thruway. Much quicker than the I-287 loop, but you’re going to have to pay tolls.

South Carolina seemingly has the same problem as Belgium in Europe. Situated on a massive transport corridor but no money to keep the roads in order for the volume of traffic using them.

I think an honorable mention should go to the Norfolk, VA Beach, and newport news area, absolute nightmare

THANK YOU for including I 95 in South Carolina...not only overcrowded but potholes...semis...crazy drivers...yikes.

Washington should've been higher up honestly, 95 is ALWAYS jammed from Dumfries up to the Springfield interchange, and 495 (excluding 95 concurrence) and 395 are not much better alternatives.

I absolutely agree with DC. Even in 2015 when I was just 11 years old I remember driving to Florida on i95 from Philly and still can feel the agony sitting on the beltway for hours.

Wild that Boston isn’t on here, especially with South Carolina included. That state barely has more people than just the metro area of Boston, it couldn’t possibly be worse. Consistently top 3 worst traffic in the country, the roads are famously confusing, and traffic usually lasts from 6am to 9 pm. Northbound the pike is usually backed up from the CT line, 95 is backed up from Providence. Southbound is often backed up a few miles into Maine (in the summer up to Kennebunk). 93 isn’t even worth considering if you’re passing through.

I'm glad you put South Carolina on here, 95 in SC is horrendous.

The amount of potholes I encountered going northbound on i-95 through SC from FL to NC was abysmal. Never have I drive through such a bad interstate.

I used to do the drive from PHL to Boston on a regular basis and PHL to eastern Long Island, too . The thing that can be said about getting through New York is that least there are a few different options if you know them. Sure, there are times when it's just going to suck, but if you plan around those times and otherwise know the road map, you can survive. Fun video, thanks for doing it!

I lived just north of Baltimore. I could drive to or from Richmond in 3 hours if I did it late at night. It took 6 hours if I did it during the day.

I've heard the reason South Carolina puts no money into I-95 is because it goes through such a sparsely populated area. Apparently when 95 was built, SC wanted it to go through Charleston and the feds said no because the point of 95 was to get through SC as quickly as possible and building it through Charleston would have added many hours to travel time between Florida and the Northeast.

In the times in the past when I needed to go from New England and drive south of New York, I either used I-287 to cross the Hudson, or stayed further north and take I-84 to cross the Hudson at Newburgh, then get onto 87 and 287.

I just did the I95 drive from Miami to Portland ME - northbound through NYC and southbound using the i84/81 route around the megalopolis. I always try to avoid the DC and NY metro areas for their traffic woes and have learned that sometimes going right through a city instead of using the ring road can save time - if you time it right. A new subscriber here and what I see I really like. Drive safe. E

95 in SC is either backed up or you're hitting potholes from Savannah to Florence

The list makes sense to me as a NoVA resident with family in New England that I visit quite often. As for going around NYC, it's either the Garden State Parkway, Major Deegan to Cross County, or the Palisades up to the bridge crossing at Nyack/Tarrytown. It's just easier, these days, to travel at night if possible.

It took my wife and I 10 hours to drive from Myrtle Beach to Washington, D.C. over the summer. Over half of those 10 hours were spent in Virginia, along the stretch of 95 between Richmond and the Capital Beltway. Come to think of it, there isn't a single city on the East Coast that I DO like driving in or through. Except maybe for Winston-Salem. I've never had any problems or issues down there.

I wish to add I-95 between Richmond and Washington, DC. Traffic is near standstill.

I haven't watched yet but guessing Atlanta is in this video

Some trucker perspective: - Most of the time I've had decent luck with I285 Atlanta. Aside from all the 50mph traffic in the right two lanes anyway. - NYC...unless near max weight (due to the grades), regardless of time of day, I try to take i81 to i84 when headed to New England if it can make a lick of sense. If not, I'll end my day around Vince Lombardi and go through at night. (but I'm graveyard shift anyway so...) - Surprised you didn't mention i495 for DC. About the same distance, it's usually only clogged during rush hour. Dishonorable mention goes to the area between NYC and New Haven, CT. I try to avoid day driving here, and it's another reason why I love i84.

Great video. We drive from Philadelphia to Florida every winter pulling a trailer. I prefer Route 1 to the Baltimore beltway to avoid tolls and the 95 traffic along this stretch. The Washington beltway area is terrible. Last year, it was raining when we went around Washington. There was 4 accidents on our route and our average speed was around 10 mph. On the way home the GPS put us on 395, not fun when pulling a trailer driving through downtown Washington. I’m thinking of taking 81 next time. 95 through South Carolina is exactly how you described it. You can tell when you cross the boarder from North Carolina. This section of 95 is like a war zone. Poorly patch pot holes and a bump at every expansion joint. The inside of the trailer looks like it was in a earth quake after driving on that road. Thanks for the video.

I'm a native New Yorker, and I was surprised to see NYC at #1, it's laid out fairly straightforwardly (I think) but that's probably a result of it being what I've always known as city driving. As a fellow traveler who loves seeing this country behind the wheel, I would say Boston is by far the most difficult city to drive in. Anymore, whenever I visit, I just park wherever I can and walk or catch an uber.

It's nice to hear an explanation as to why traffic in Atlanta is so bad. I love visiting, but driving around and through the sprawl is a nightmare, to the point that I arrive to everything an hour or two early because I can't be sure there won't be a traffic standstill when I arrive.

Give Buffalo, Rochester, and Burlington VT a visit when you get a chance, beautiful cities

I live in NJ just outside of NYC, and I've travelled down to south Florida for family vacations for years, and oh god do I feel so much of this. A couple things I want to add, but I want to start with a hopefully positive idea: Driving down to Florida, a number of years ago we started using an alternate route that avoids a LOT of I-95, bypassing Baltimore, D.C. and Richmond and it's been a huge help. It starts at US-13 in Delaware, but then shifts over to US-50, like you see in the DC section of the video. But instead of hitting the Beltway, we turn onto US-301 at Bowie, MD and take that down to I-295 outside of Richmond, which we take around and down past Petersburg. Granted, some of the roads are a bit slower as far as maximum speed, and there's a lot of 1-lane-each-way on that road but... we manage to go from up here down to South Carolina in about 10-10.5 hours and can stop there for dinner and a night's rest. I suggest this path to all my friends who drive down and they've rather liked it. As far as NYC goes... it's a nightmare. If you haven't driven in NYC, the best description of things I can give is this: I have a friend who lived in Queens near LaGuardia Airport. To get there from my house by transit, I would walk 1/2 mile, take a light rail to get to the PATH over to World Trade Center, then take the E train to Queens and then the 7 Train to 90th, then walk about 3/4 mile to her place. This would usually take around 90 minutes. I once drove her home from a friend's place which was only a couple minutes from my house to her place in Queens. The round-trip was between 3.5 and 4 hours. The most direct route is about 20 miles, and even at mid-day is expected to take around 70-75 minutes. (Spoiler: If never goes that fast). Oh, and in addition to the BQE, NYC has the Long Island Expressway, the most ironically and accurately named road. How? Because it's never any kind of express while you're on it, so its nickname is also self-descriptive, because it certainly is a L.I.E.

I've driven through all these cities and highways you mentioned and can agree with the order of difficulty. I could feel the stress of driving through Atlanta and New York especially. Atlanta seems more stressful because I like the New York City scenery much better. Driving in the U.S. seems like a dream compared to other places I've seen like Lagos, Nigeria or Bogota, Colombia.

I'm surprised you didn't include Philadelphia. I-95 & I-76 get pretty bad and rough crisscrossing Center City and other parts of Philly.

Atlanta resident here. I'm glad someone recognizes the one thing our city has that very few other cities in the US can boast: the worst traffic in the southern US. All the things you pointed out are true. Bad public transport, a horrible lack of alternative roads, and intersections that clog up the highways. I was at an event with people from multiple US cities, and nearly every one of them was surprised at how bad the traffic was. The Dunwoody area, right at the north of the perimeter, is currently undergoing one of the largest traffic reconstruction efforts I've ever seen in my life. Every intersection is being completely reworked with a ton of bypass roads, giant exchange bridges, and practically every intersection is changing to a diverging diamond intersection. I'm not sure how much it'll help, since reducing capacity on the highway will only encourage more people to start using it, which will just put traffic right back where it was before all the construction. The last few weeks traffic on 285 between Dunwoody at GA 400 and i-75 has been absolutely horrible, even at times of the day that shouldn't have bad traffic. The reason? They're building a replacement bridge for one of the smaller roads going over 285. The act of closing down that single small bridge is causing substantial diversions to the interstate exit, which has two interlocked roundabout that backs up the traffic trying to exit the interstate. I've never seen such a giant traffic mess caused by shutting down a single minor bridge when there are four other bridges to cross the same section of 285 within a mile. It's currently graveyard shift hours, and Atlanta and New York are the only eastern cities with any traffic congestion. We need help.

I always take I-295 around Petersburg and Richmond. It’s a good wide highway that’s lightly traveled. Been taking the trip from Florida to Boston for many years and there are alternate routes around NYC that aren’t bad. CT can be a nightmare on I-84. I-95 is always full of crumbled pavement on the right edge probably because it floods a lot and freezes.

Just north of his I-95 starting point, there is a stretch through Florence SC with 6 lanes but other than that, I-95 from Jacksonville Fl to Richmond VA is a nightmare. I drive through Baltimore and Philadelphia and you nailed it. Atlanta is like driving in LA or San Francisco (pre- Newsom apocalypse). I used to drive from SC to MS and I’d plan my trip based on the time of day I hit Atlanta. I drive through New York metro several times a year and it is a nightmare. Not only is the traffic horrible, the scenery is disgusting, especially in the Newark NJ are which looks like the highways are also garbage receptacles.

On I-95 in SC you have a critical bridge over Lake Marion. It is well obsolete with no shoulders and is prone to accidents, especially coming over the high crown of the bridge. There are plans to build a replacement bridge within the next few years. If the current bridge ever has to be closed for repairs you’d be faced with a 70 mile detour.

Mike you have some very good points! From driving OTR every place you mentioned is best to go through at night.

This makes an interesting topic. I also enjoy viewing the local footage of each of these cities.

I often think up the worst scenarios as like driving threw a nyc tunnel and vehicle breakdown tying up tunnel system.

The history of I-70 and I-83 in Baltimore explains the weird terminus of the former and the incomplete feeling of the latter. They were originally designed to meet in the downtown area, with I-70 following US-40 into the city (see also: Road to Nowhere), meeting with I-83 near the Shot Tower, then continuing on through Canton to meet I-95. This would have dramatically changed the look of several portions of Baltimore: West Baltimore would have lost its residential identity, Canton would never have gained its, and the Inner Harbor wouldn't have developed into the jewel of the city that it was through the 90's and 00's. Granted, that jewel needs a bit of polishing now...

Good insights into Atlanta's car traffic nightmare. There were some specific planning mistakes, not just population growth. Thanks for the info.

Great video sir!, of these picks and from what I’ve personally experienced I would say Atlanta is definitely a trip. One thing that plagues the East coast is just the fact that the population in most of the states and the metros that they bear have significant population, sprawl, and people from other states traveling or commuting for work. FL alone with over 22 million people, various metro areas, and tourist is a prime example. The 2 lanes for I95 in SC will more then likely cause you to worry about one thing an accident happening, if said accident happens well then it’s time to wait. Most of the counties that I95 goes through in the Carolinas and Georgia are relatively sparsely populated. There are stretches of I95 that I really enjoy and ones that I don’t but going from Emporia, VA to Port Saint Lucie, FL. most times it isn’t to bad.

For years we drove from Boston to the west coast of Florida mostly on I-95, though we did deviate and go over the old Tappan Zee Bridge and down the New Jersey Turnpike. My first exposure to the Washington, DC Beltway was on a Friday afternoon at 5:00 during a snowstorm. While some sections of I-95 were easy and boring, some of the northern sections were stressful. After too many close calls, we eventually elected to fly to Sarasota.

In my experience, southern Florida, West Palm Beach to Miami, had the worst traffic I ever had to negotiate. And while New York traffic is tough, I've always passed through or around it in reasonable time, due to the various options available, usually via GW Bridge or even Westside drive and one of the tunnels. The video misses the X-County Expressway, and Hudson PKWY option and mischaracterizes the I 287, option, which, coming from the north, feeds nicely onto the Garden State PKWY, and eventually the Jersey Turnpike... no need to loop back towards the the city in the south.

Love the channel

I absolutely hate passing though Atlanta and wish there was an alternative interstate that went from 75 south of Macon that went through Columbus and to Birmingham. That would reduce some of the traffic going through ATL and could provide an alternative route for north-south travelers.

I kind of consider Baltimore and dc to be the same metro area, they're so close and thier population centers effect eachothers traffic

I often drive from Charlotte to Pensacola, and I have to plan my trip around avoiding Atlanta at peak hours. I find it easier to drive thru the downtown connector rather than I-285. Also, I have driven Charlotte to Orlando twice and I’m glad I’m not the only one who dreads that awful section of I-95

When bypassing NYC, I always take the Garden State Parkway to I-287 and the Tappan Zee.

I enjoyed this video.

I totally agree with your NY rank. As a Long Islander who needed to get to PA when the City got that recent torrential rain/flood, it took me three hours just to get past the GW. You got a 👍 from me.

Got very familiar with the 287 bypass around NYC for 6 weeks back in 2004. I was stationed in MA (just outside of Boston) and had to go to what was Joint Base McGuire-Dix-whatever for NCO Academy; I drove back/forth every weekend to be home with my wife and young kids and 287 was my route of choice to avoid NYC proper. Didn't mind paying the $6.00 toll on the Tappan Zee bridge, as it was called back then, and I had a 2001 VW Jetta VR6 that I loved to drive. Also, to piggyback on being stationed near Boston, MA, I would have put Boston at the #5 spot over Baltimore. Logan Int'l was only 13 miles from where I was stationed, but it would take longer to drive there than it would to the airport in Manchester, NH, even though it was 55 miles away. On one occasion, it took nearly 3 hours to get to Logan...UGH! And the Ted Williams tunnel collapse happened while I was in MA. And MA just sucks all around, especially the MASSholes on the road...lol. Atlanta should share #1 with NYC. NYC is bad mainly because of the dense population...if NYC's population was the same as ATL's, do you think traffic would be as bad? Charlotte, where I'm from and reside close to right now, would probably be #7 on a top ten list and will most likely crack the top 5 by 2030... Darkhorse top 5 by 2035: Asheville, NC.

Good analysis of Atlanta.

5:57 SCDOT has already started upgrades to I-26. 26 in the Charleston merto is 3 to 4 lanes in each direction, expansion has started on both the nothern and southern ends of the Columbia Metro including "Malfunction Junction interchange" which is being rebuilt from a cloverleaf into a turbine interchange

Coming from the south (trips from Virginia to Rhode Island), a combination of the Garden State Parkway and the Tappan Zee Bridge was supposed to add an hour of time. The Cross Brox was so backed up as usual that it only cost a few minutes. Surprised? Not really.

I absolutely love when u upload 🔥🔥 now I think we should talk about how public transport affect sunbelt metros

For NYC, you forgot the Belt Parkway, that routes along the South Shore of Queens and Brooklyn and the Staten Island Expressway that connects the Verrazano Narrows Bridge to the NJ Turnpike

Glad to see that stretch of SC I-95 listed. That is awful. It has the accordion effect going on. You're in stop in go traffic, then it opens up, only to return to stop and go. It's so bad we now plan around it and try to stop somewhere just before the bad stretch for the night so that we can get down to GA as early as we can.

#3 makes me feel validated in my feelings about that lol I’ve ran my fair share of freight (trucker) north on 95 and I despise that section of 95 going right into South Carolina more than any other section of it (except maybe DC because I have never not been stuck in traffic up there)

Living in Greenville, SC I have been through Atlanta more times than I can count and have gotten to know a few ways through and around the main traffic patterns if there is a problem. The dumbest part of their interstate is definitely the convergence of two major interstates in the middle of down town. Go just after 10 if you can and leave before three and you'll usually be fine though. The thing about Atlanta is the more lanes you put in the more lanes people have to move through to make their exit and that's where the problems come in. When you know where you're going and pay attention it's actually fairly easy to get around Atlanta. If you think you're going to get across eight lanes of traffic going 80 MPH because you were looking at your phone and didn't see the exit signs starting five miles in advance then you're S.O.L and will have to back track. If I need to get somewhere west of Atlanta then I go very early, like before 6 AM or just wait until about 10 AM and have rarely had an issue. I've used 120 and 400 on numerous occasions and not had a problem with those either. And the far east perimeter of 285 is rarely as bad as the north and west sides where all the people go and the southern side going towards the airport.

Good video. Thanks! I agree on horrible Atlanta! I live 150 miles away.

I travel several times a year from NH to Phili area ALL mapping software takes me over the GW. No way no how. I always use I-287 over the Tappen Zee (it's still the Tappen Zee) to the GSP to either US-1 or the New Jersey Turnpike.

Not sure if you consider it part of the NYC metro, but I-95 in Connecticut is often a traffic nightmare.

I figured Atlanta would be #2. The north outer loop would make sense to build. I hope it happens someday.

Loved your intro scene of I-95 in Wilmington! Brought back memories. A million ramps at 60 mph and if you're getting onto 202 to King of Prussia (with 5 major highways all converging at once) you quietly lose your mind.

During my 70 odd years of life (most in the SE Pa and Long Island w/ the last 12 years in FL), I've had the pain / pleasure of traversing each and every one of these cities either as a destination or passing through to somewhere else and agree for the most part. Would have liked to see your choice of (dis)honorable mentions - mine would be Boston and Miami. Living on Long Island for 29 years had me adapt to trading distance for congestion more often than not and when we had to go to PA to visit family / friends we almost always had to leave early enough to get through NYC before 6:30 AM or after 10 PM; fortunately all non driving family could sleep well in the car. Would often trade the cost of taking either of the two ferry's to CT when we could as both the wife and kids enjoyed it (weather permitting). Agree with gannon3816's comment about Philly to VA and Richmond to DC.

This is the video I pull up right after getting in after being stuck on the Beltway at 8:00 due to a traffic accident. DC is horrible. I go to Baltimore often but I usually go Rte 50 to I-97 which makes it easier. But the worst one on this list for me is SC. I expect Atlanta and NYC to be bad but South Carolina! I drove back and forth between DC and Orlando last December and the drive through SC was absolutely draining. I even goggled “why is I-95 traffic so bad in South Carolina” while I was stopped and not moving on the highway. Thank God for Google Maps helping me to avoid some of it.

Grew up in New England and went to grad school at Rutgers, so I've done a lot of drives through the NYC area. It would never have occurred to me to take the BQE. For me, the main two options are GW Bridge/Cross-Bronx or Tappan Zee Bridge/287/84. If for some reason you're driving at a low traffic time of day (early morning or late at night) the Cross-Bronx can be faster. But almost always I would take the Tappan Zee. Mike downplays the speed of this route by tying it to the 287 loop in New Jersey. But you can easily get to the Tappan Zee by taking the NJ Turnpike to the GS Parkway in North Jersey.

As a OTR truck driver an Atlanta native i 1000% agree with this list

Unfortunately, other than a 10 mile section of I 95 near Hilton Head and the state line, and the I 26 interchange, SC will probably not do anything about 95 for a long time. The area just doesn't bring as much economic value to the state compared to I 85 which has been in a state of construction for over 5 years due to economic importance. It is important to consider that the Backroads can bypass that highway until the Savannah river where there are not alot of options to cross other than I 95 or the city of Savannah.

I assume Boston would have been #6. I-93, even after the Big Dig, is still brutal.

Spot on about Atlanta. Just a lot of short-sighted planning years ago that did not anticipate the population growth in the 90's and today. By the time they wanted to actually do something to alleviate some of the problems (Northern Arc), it was too late. Now we're just stuck with what we've got. Your comment about the interchanges was a great insight to the whole thing. They just cannot handle the traffic, so everything gets bottlenecked wherever you go.

I’ve done the NY to Florida drive the past few years and this list is really accurate. I’d add an honorable mention the part of 95 that rolls through NC. It’s ALWAYS under construction

I'd love to hear your take on traveling through the Hampton Roads metro area in Virginia. We have three ways to cross the James River, yet two of them are so inundated with traffic that they often just result in people staying on the Peninsula or in Southside. Then there's the James River Bridge, which is probably the longest route to get between the Peninsula and Southside. And then, in Southside, if you make one wrong turn or miss your exit, you end up going through a toll area that has no toll plaza, getting hit with a $14 (last I checked) toll if you don't have an EZPass. On top of that, going from one part of Southside to another can be as short as a 15 minute drive (toll route) or an hour (no tolls). It's almost like they're punishing you for not having an EZPass. And for those who don't go through areas where one would be useful too often, it just doesn't pay to have one.

Omg it’s almost as if we should stop investing in more lanes and start building decent transit 🙃

I left the east coast 30 years ago. I don't miss the driving there at all. Iowa, cheap land, cheap food, easy commute.

Good info! It seems that your videos are mostly centered on the east coast when it comes to highways and traffic… Do you plan to talk about other parts of US, like the west coast, in future videos?

While I'd be hard-pressed to disagree with this list, I will also mention that the worst traffic jam I ever encountered was in the relatively modestly-sized area of Scranton and Wilkes-barre PA. It ended up taking us approximately 4 hours averaging around 12 mph.

DC, Atlanta, and New York are by far the worst cities that I've driven through on the east coast. Miami is an honorable mention just because it has the dumbest and most reckless drivers in the country. I agree about that section in South Carolina. I used to drive from Fayetteville, NC to Jacksonville often and it was always congested and slow.

Made the drive from the northeast to costal Georgia a few times now, and I-95 from I-26 to the Savannah area is always a PAIN. Not only does traffic seem to spawn out of nowhere, the road is quite literally falling apart. Doesnt feel like it so much as been paved over in 50 years.

Mike, I totally agree with list and order. Just drove from FL to VT and back this year. Went thru all those cities. I95 thru Ft Lee was horribly depressing! My trip thru DC went surprisingly smooth. Gods were smiling on us.

As a native of Delaware, I cannot express to you the sheer excitement I felt when you showed my commute on 95 at the beginning of the video. We never get highlights for anything, so thank you for that 😂❤

Baltimore really ain't that bad traffic-wise as long as you stay off 695. Now for the Suburbanites that depend on 695, that's a different story. But if you're driving thru, never get off I-95.

I have never had a problem with Atlanta. However, when I drive through Atlanta I usually get there late at night. If I am going South I get a hotel just south of Atlanta. When going North I get one to the North. That way I pass through Atlanta late at night when the roads are not too bad and then in the morning I have already passed through the town so don't have to worry about it.

I knew this was going to be a good one. It's like asking "Which gas station in town has the worst sushi bar?" (The worst one in my town is run by a Chinese lady who has a bait shop and buffet inside the gas station. Sometimes you see the distressed bait shop inventory on the sushi bar). My brother-in-law used to deliver cars to Jacksonville and Miami. He asked me which city had the worst drivers. I said Miami because their drivers flip you off after nearly running you off the road tail gaiting and swerving across lanes, whereas in Jacksonville they are just aggressive drivers without personal malice. Also agree with your takes on Baltimore, D.C., and that awful stretch of two-lane I-95 in South Carolina. I sometimes take the secondary routes that cut diagonal across S.C. to avoid I-95. I likewise by-pass Atlanta on secondary roads 40 miles east or west of the center of town. I expected this video to be a good one, and it was, confirming my worst experiences of difficult East Coast urban areas to transit. Due to increasing congestion, the Interstates are not always the best routes any more.

I recently drove on the Jersey Pike to go through NYC going to Rhode Island. I left the last service plaza on the Pike at 10am or so and it took me 1 hour and 40 minutes to get across the GW. That is the worst experience I have had in the last 25 years of driving through NYC. Choices coming from coastal Virginia - Not many!

The Washington DC Baltimore metropolitan area could use a super bypass around the entire area.

Boston to Florida: 90 to 84 to the end in Scranton. South on 81 (there has been construction between here and Harrisburg for 30 years) as far as possible, moving back over to 95 past at least Baltimore. Beltway around DC and then it's free flow to Orlando.

Great list! I am surprised Miami did not make the list

Really surprised DC isn't higher on the list. The beltway and the feeder highways are bumper to bumper pretty much all day and are slow even on the weekends and at night. It is difficult to get into the heart of the city BY DESIGN (they wanted to make it hard to mount any direct land attack on the capital) so it forces most traffic to the beltway and then jams the surface streets. I can't speak to Atlanta, but DC has frequently been listed as one of the very worst traffic cities in the nation. Plus the issues really extend far into Virginia (on 95) and Maryland (270). A weekend drive from the DC area to Richmond (~100 miles) can easily take 4+ hours some days.

Where is Boston? Have you really driven during rush hour here?

Baltimore resident here. Can confirm. Avoid the beltway between Security Blvd down to Catonsville; Towson to Pulaski Hwy; Halethorpe i-95 to downtown/i-395/i-95 to tunnel Traffic flow isn't managed well at all during rush hour or events in core downtown. Gridlocked Pratt, Eutaw, Lombard, Fayette, Orleans and Boston Sts. Your best bet to avoid traffic is to take the lesser travelled side streets. When I need to go downtown I take the bus.

I have traveled from New York to Savannah, Georgia twice (up and down) going on i95 and the last time (heading north) there was a MASSIVE storm… I was scared for my life. I will agree with this

I was a little startled that Boston wasn’t on the list! Anyone who has to cross Boston to go to Cape Cod (as in anyone from ME or NH) knows that that trip needs careful timing as MA-3 gets backed up pretty easy. Coming from the northwest or west of Boston the trip to the Cape won’t be so bad. I still remember driving up Route 3 on a Saturday, we were going from Cohasset to Cambridge. It was packed and some poor women was stuck, I guess maybe her clutch failed, in the left lane, he head was on her steering wheel like “I’m stuck dead in the middle of RT 3 and I’m the traffic jam” (she wasn’t, it was heavy anyway) I live in far northern NYS and would like to point out that if avoiding Boswash is important there are numerous ways to do that. We used to drive to Florida a little less than once a year, usually at Christmas, and generally in the winter. Our choice was I-81 or connecting to the NJ turnpike and 95 from there. We only did that once, knowing there was a snowstorm in the mountains, it was rather…rough. No snow but we didn’t get as far south the first day as we might have wished. Another time we went down 81 in spite of a storm, except for a stretch in Northern VA it wasn’t that bad. 81 was backed up, and we went on US11 for a few miles, the only disagreeable surprise is that as Winter hardy people we expected a stretch of road designated Truck 11 would be much better cleared than it was. Should’ve gone through town! We were also once caught in that stretch of I-95 in SC, northbound and I was thinking “There’s no “Here” here, where tf are all these cars coming from?”

About your #3, at least there are plenty of back roads you can take to avoid the traffic, since you’re driving through the wide open South. Yes it might take longer, since the speed limits are lower, and you might go through some crummy old towns, but scenery is subjective. Besides, it’s not like having to get past a major city next to a large body of water, which plays a critical factor in limiting your route options.

You neglected to mention the abhorent toll prices in crossing the state line from jersey to new york. if you need to drive that daily you might as well put your car on pontoons and paddle it around manhattan

I've driven thru each of these places multiple times and completely agree with this list. The best big city in the east to pass thru is Pittsburgh because none of the thru routes pass into the central city. I wonder why more highway designers in the 50s didn't use this strategy. Long distance freeways should have been built to pass by on the outskirts with spur routes into the city.

I’ve driven I95 from Maine to Florida many times and it was always nerve wracking to say the least. I would call it the most dangerous road in the country and it would still be even if you doubled the width for the entire distance where possible. The Connecticut section from New Haven to the New York line averages an exit/entrance less than every mile.