86 West out of Binghamton, New York?

[jymbee]

We typically endure that terrible, rough stretch of highway headed to and from Ohio. I heard at one point they were doing some road construction along that section of 86 and wondering if anything has improved? Will probably be headed back that way in a few weeks and exploring route options.

 

[darsben]

Please let me know what you find

 

[rvlifer]

No good options that i am aware of. Anything else adds a lot of time and miles. If you are deadset on avoiding it heading north to the finger lakes is decent but cant remember whether thwre are good roads with an rv. Wineries and waterfalls in ithaca and the marina at watkins glenn are great.

If there was a good way to get ro 222/322 in pa that is a decent drive. Smaller roads but nothung an rv coyldnt handle iirc

 

[jymbee]

Please let me know what you find

Will know in a bit over a week. Will do.

 

[jymbee]

No good options that i am aware of. Anything else adds a lot of time and miles. If you are deadset on avoiding it heading north to the finger lakes is decent but cant remember whether thwre are good roads with an rv. Wineries and waterfalls in ithaca and the marina at watkins glenn are great.

If there was a good way to get ro 222/322 in pa that is a decent drive. Smaller roads but nothung an rv coyldnt handle iirc

Actually our "Plan B", going from around Columbus, OH to the Catskill Mountains in NY would be to stay south and take 80. Came out that way this trip as it was below some nasty weather up around Lake Erie. A longer route however.

We'll see some friends in a couple days that came back that way a few months ago (86 out of Binghamton) and see what they report.

 

[Adventurous Traveler]

How about scenic Rt. 6 in PA? Somewhat parallels 86 to near Binghamton I think.

Or, you could take good 'ol US 20 right across NY. Some great little towns to pass through. The only problem would be 20 is Main Street in Syracuse taking you right through downtown, but its not long and we did it with a 34' motorhome towing our car on the dolly.

 

[jymbee]

How about scenic Rt. 6 in PA? Somewhat parallels 86 to near Binghamton I think.

Or, you could take good 'ol US 20 right across NY. Some great little towns to pass through. The only problem would be 20 is Main Street in Syracuse taking you right through downtown, but its not long and we did it with a 34' motorhome towing our car on the dolly.

Appreciate the input!

There are times when we do prefer a more scenic, albeit slower route but in this case we both have a case of "going-home-itis" in that it's the last leg of our 4 month winter travels.

Even with the shortest route it's at least a 10 hour drive and we typically spend the night at the Cracker Barrel in Binghamton the first night, then jump on 88 in the morning which gets us home at a reasonable daylight hour.

I seem to remember that 20 across NY as you may know was at one time the primary road West our of Albany before construction of the Thruway. In Albany 20 is Western Avenue, where I used to live for a short while in another lifetime.

 

[jymbee]

Please let me know what you find

What a disgraceful stretch of highway.

The stretch of 86 about 25 miles out of Binghamton-- still a mess. But there was a segment around 80 miles out, on the right lane, that was by far the worst stretch of road we've ever traveled in all the years we've been driving. Even at 40 MPH it felt like the coach was going to fall apart. Bottom line: never again. Will go as far as need to avoid 86 there.

 

[darsben]

Thanks that affects my route home