http://fenicedautun.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] fenicedautun.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] davis_square2010-05-26 11:55 am
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Best route to Mass Pike at rush hour?

So I just got a job offer for a job that would require me to take the pike out to Framingham area every morning. I've never actually tried to get to the pike (I'm in Ball Square area) in the morning, and wondered if anybody had favored routes?

[identity profile] koshmom.livejournal.com 2010-05-26 03:59 pm (UTC)(link)
I'd guess 16 to route 2 West to 128 south to Mass Pike. It'll suck, but if you try to get onto the pike at Cambridge/Boston, the news always says it stinks horribly.

Oh, get a fast pass too.

[identity profile] intuition-ist.livejournal.com 2010-05-26 04:08 pm (UTC)(link)
best choice is to see whether you can time-shift your day. i commuted past the 95S ramp on Rt 2 for several years, and that segment of 95 from 2 to 90 is nearly always scrod during rush hour (S in the morning, N in the evening is worst, but don't count on the opposite direction being any better).

if you don't want to sit in traffic for hours every week, check to see whether the framingham/worcester commuter rail out of south station goes anywhere near the office you're working in.

[identity profile] hikermtnbiker.livejournal.com 2010-05-26 04:12 pm (UTC)(link)
I am sure that others more clever than I could provide a map but this is the general route that I take from Davis to the Pike.

Mass ave to Walden St. Walden / Reservoir to Huron. Left on Huron, right on Appleton to Brattle. Left on Brattle then right on Hawthorn continue to Mem Drive. Left on Mem, right on Kennedy and left on Storrow to the Pike.

As I look at a map you could use Sparks from Huron to Mt. Auburn but I like having the light at Hawthorn. To reverse, I take Lowell from Mt. Auburn to Brattle as Hawthorn is a one way.

[identity profile] junesrose.livejournal.com 2010-05-26 04:18 pm (UTC)(link)
I foresee a move in your future....

No seriously, there is no easy way to the pike from DS at that hour of the morning.

One more alternative, is to get to Storrow Drive from Harvard Sq, and get on the beginning of the pike at The Embassy/Guest Suites (whatever it's being called this week) hotel. At least you'll be on your road from the start.

And yes, a Fast past is a must.

Good luck.

[identity profile] slinkr.livejournal.com 2010-05-26 04:27 pm (UTC)(link)
From Ball Square, I'd head down Broadway to McGrath, to 93 south to the Pike. I commuted to the Framingham area from East Somerville for 2 years, it's a haul but mostly you're going against traffic.

Very do-able

[identity profile] t4e-ds.livejournal.com 2010-05-26 04:37 pm (UTC)(link)
This is a very do-able commute. I commuted from the Davis/Teele area to Natick/Framingham for 3+ years. Very do-able if you can time your commute properly.

The first trick is to get to Rte 2. From Teele, I do:: Broadway-Everett St-Mass Ave-Lake St. You'll want to get through Lake St by 7:30 to avoid the elementary school traffic.

Rte 2-95 intersection can get pretty jammed. You'll want to hit this intersection by 7:45 at the latest. A small stretch of 95 until the Waltham exits can be congested but once you're through that, it's easy.

Pike westbound is a reverse commute at that hour so you're ok.

If you can get out of the Davis area by 7:15 or so, the commute should take you 45 mins (depending on how close to the Pike in Framingham). If you leave at 8, it will take you an hour plus. I was able to leave early and never had a problem.


dcltdw: (Default)

ezpass vs fastlane

[personal profile] dcltdw 2010-05-26 04:55 pm (UTC)(link)
My info is years out of date, so with that caveat...

EZ passes are vastly superior to fast lane passes:
* works outside of MA
* no monthly fees(!)

Basically, EZ passes are a model of how to do it right, and FastLane is a model of how to be greedy and lose.

ezpass-ny.com, I think? Google will know. :)

[identity profile] mjrocks98.livejournal.com 2010-05-26 08:53 pm (UTC)(link)
I commute this way everyday from Magoun Square. I cut through Davis & from Mass Ave turn onto a little side street (no clue what the name is) to cut down to Rindge. Take Rindge right into Route 2 & avoid the craziness that is 16. Once I get past the light at Alewife it's pretty quick (usually can go 70mph). Sometimes have a back up issue at the route 2/ 95 interchange, but if it's real bad I continue down to the turn around in Concord change directions & can somehow always get right on 95 with no problems from the opposite direction. Once on 95 traffic is pretty heavy till you get past Trapelo Rd., but once you're passed there I can usually go 70-80mph.

[identity profile] tipper-green.livejournal.com 2010-05-27 03:33 am (UTC)(link)
I live on Summer (at the top of Spring Hill, near the church), and, until my work moved about six months ago, I drove to the Pike every morning for years and years to get out to Westborough (past Framingham). It would take me ten minutes, give or take, to get to the Pike in the morning from where I live. What I do is cut around Harvard, literally skirting the eastern edge of it. Sounds nuts, but the route I take is one I planned, using all back roads, where I take as many right hand turns as possible. And it works like a charm.

So, and I know this is going to sound nuts and will probably make you cross-eyed, but if you follow it on a map, it's not so bad. What I do is, I take Laurel (from Summer) down to Somerville Ave, turn left onto Somerville Ave and first right onto Dane Street, which curls around to Washington/Kirkland. I *cross* Washington onto a tiny one way called Calvin, and that road curls around to Hampshire Street. I turn left on Hampshire, and then immediately right onto a tiny little street called Cooney, then right (because you don't have choice) onto Line Street, and then immediately left onto Leonard Ave (it's like a 270 degree angle, so wicked sharp). You hit Cambridge street, but just go across it onto Ellsworth. At the bottom of Ellsworth, you turn right onto Broadway, and immediately left onto Dana. Take Dana all the way to Mass Ave. Turn left on Mass Ave, and immediately Right onto Bay Street. At the bottom, you turn right on Green St, then left onto Putnam. Putnam takes you to Western, and that takes you to the Pike.

If you don't want to do that, I totally understand, but if you have time one day, it could be worth pulling out a map of Cambridge/Somerville with the one ways on it and mapping out your own twisted route, and then seeing how it goes.

Other recommendations -- if you can leave as late as 8:45, do it. If not, just try to avoid 8 - 8:30. Because of the schoolbuses/schools and the garbage trucks.

And do not go Route 2 to 128, except as a last resort. It'll make you cry. I do that now, because I'm off 128, and I hate it with an all consuming passion. Alewife is a killer, and 128 is a life-sucker. I miss the Pike so, so much.

[identity profile] photolight1.livejournal.com 2010-05-29 12:28 pm (UTC)(link)
This is great info....I always take soldiers field road from either harvard square or prospect street to the newton corner entrance..Saves $1.25
I don't use the pike daily but I've heard of to many people being overcharged by the ezpass system. I don't trust it.