Travel thru Worcester-road construction?
 

Friends of mine will be traveling up from PA this coming weekend. They will be driving up either Friday or Saturday, probably hitting Worcester by noon or later. Should I tell them to keep going on the Mass. Pike to 495 or go thru Worcester due to the construction. Thanks Robin

290 a continual construction zone
 

Worcester is still under construction -- imagine that!!! Having family in CT, I always go through Worcester, and it has been under construction for over a year now. Since it's only a 10 minute ride more on the Pike to 495 I'd recommend you tell your guests to take that route and avoid the headache of Wusta.

I travel through downtown Wusta twice daily. The section of road under construction is only about 1/2 mile. Heading east it will probably be heaviest at the rush hour 4-6 pm. Even at its heaviest, it is not that much of a delay compared to I-495 at the Mass Pike!

Fri afternoon = avoid 495N
 

If they are arriving at 495N anytime btw 3-6 pm on Friday they are likely to be stuck in traffic north of Rt2 all the way up to (and past) Rt93. Sat would be no problem. I can't speak to the traffic flow in "Wusta" but I've been stuck on 495N for an hour+ during the aforementioned times. :(

Another way, a road less travelled, would be to get on I 91N at Hartford or off the Mass Pike, depending on how they are travelling, and go North to Brattleboro VT, getting off on Rte 9 east to Keene and then on past Henniker to I 89 south to Concord and then I 93 North to I 393 to Rte 28 to Wolfeboro and Mirror Lake. When we lived in upstate NY, we travelled Rte 9 extensively with few if any tieups. From Brattleboro, it is about two hours to Alton, as a point of reference.

I'd have to agree that if your friends hit the 495/MA pike area anywhere after 3:00 PM on a friday they better be prepared for either slow or stopped traffic. We only live a halfmile from that intersection and it backs up constantly on friday afternoons. The ramps are just too small to handle all that traffic now. It even flows out onto the back roads around here just to avoid it. My husband and I were just talking about this Wed on our way back from NH as we passed the 495S/290W ramp. They have this lighted sign that says road construction 290 seek alternate routes. We were saying that it seems to have bumped more traffic up to the Pike/495 ramps lately as people try to avoid Worcester. I've traveled through W. a few times lately and have not had much of a problem.

Traveling through Worcester...
 

I wish I would've asked the forum back in June about traveling through Worcester when we made our trek from Ohio. We were making great time all day on that Friday. Hit Worcester at about 3:00 p.m. and what should have been a 12 hour trip ended up being almost a 14 hour trip. Shouldn't complain, though. Made it safely to the cabin and ended up having a great week!!

My favorite way is 91 North all the way Lebanon....take 89 south briefly and get on rt4 to 104 East to Meredith. It's a little longer ,but a very relaxing ride.No traffic...just country.