Road Tripping - How is route 88 through NY?

[Sir Fredrick]

I'm taking a road trip very, very soon.
From Lansing MI to Springfield MA.
I've got a pretty good idea of how I'm going to go. I want to avoid going through canada because of all the border stuff going on right now (don't want to be detained for hours), and I want to avoid going through 84 North because the traffic there is always insane.
So I'm thinking I'll take 17 to 88 north and then take 90 south. That should allow me to avoid most of the tolls in NY.

My only problem is that I've never been on 88. What's it like? Is there much traffic? Is it in good condition? Is it constantly under construction?

If you have any experience with 88, let me know. If you think you know of a better way to get where I need to go, let me know.

 

[UberDave]

i live on the detroit border to canada... seriously it's about a 10 minute wait to get from once side to the other now. No problems. Are you planning on taking anything you don't want them to find? heh. The worst normal thing that can happen is they have army guys there just looking inside your trunk and thats it.... most of the time they dont even do it to me. You should save a lot of time just zipping through Canada.

 

[Sir Fredrick]

Originally posted by: UberDave
i live on the detroit border to canada... seriously it's about a 10 minute wait to get from once side to the other now. No problems. Are you planning on taking anything you don't want them to find? heh. The worst normal thing that can happen is they have army guys there just looking inside your trunk and thats it.... most of the time they dont even do it to me. You should save a lot of time just zipping through Canada.

I have friends who recently took a trip up to canada, it took them 5 hours to get through the border. Maybe that was a freak occurance. My car is going to be LOADED with my stuff. Packed really tightly I'm sure. If they decide they want to search through all my stuff it'll take hours. I have nothing to hide but I don't want to lose lots of time going through the border twice.

 

[Sir Fredrick]

ttt

 

[SmiZ]

I grew up in New York and have been just about all over it. Route 17 and 88 are both in decent condition and very low traffic. The area around Elmira has some amazing scenery. It'll take you much longer not going through Canada, but if one of your main goals is to avoid tolls and you're not worried about time, the route you have described will work fine. When 88 hits 90 near albany you'll want to take 90 East which will eventually turn into the Mass Pike.

I have family that lives in Holly, MI that I visit every thanksgiving and my gf lives in New Hampshire when she's not in school, so I've made the trip both from where you're coming from and to where you're going many times. I've crossed the candaian border hundreds of times both in Niagara Falls and Port Huron and unless you're traveling during a holiday or say around 9/11 you'll have no trouble at all. Just bring a picture ID and your birth certificate and you won't even be stopped.