Ithaca to Union

[Chips \'03]

How long and what's the best route to get from Ithaca to Union?
Thanks.

[jy3]

chips
you basically have two options. these are rough
1.
79 east to 206 east (crosses 81) to 88 East to 90 west to 890 east take erie bvd exit then right onto union street.

2.
13 north to 281n to 81n to 481n to 90e and get off at the schenectady exit which is to 890e/5s then take the erie bvd exit 4b (i think you make a left onto erie) then right onto union street = campus. double check these with mapquest or something :-)

you should see onion signs. there are a few ways that you can go from 88 or from 90 to get to campus.
tell me if i am wrong here everyone :-) ::nut::

[Josh '99]

jy3 wrote:

chips
you basically have two options. these are rough
1.
79 east to 206 east (crosses 81) to 88 East to 90 west to 890 east take erie bvd exit then right onto union street.

This one is better.

[jy3]

yeah i am taking 88 from bing.
129.1 miles for the 88 route but 3hrs 50 minutes
185 miles via 90 but 3.5 hrs
times according to yahoo so who knows :-)
i can make it from binghamton to amsterdam NY in 2 hrs with good weather...
choose your route and drive safely :-) ::nut::

[DeltaOne81]

I've made the drive from Ithaca to Albany once and Albany to Ithaca twice, always doing the 79 <--> 206 <--> 88 <--> 90 route (on the advice of a friend of mine from the area), and it's generally taken me about 3 hours. Once a little bit more but that was on a very foggy night.

[jnachod]

Since I live in the Albany area and take this road quite often to get to Corrnell, I thought I'd let you know a few things.  The I-88 route is the best way to go.  There is no toll on the thruway from exit 25A to exit 25 - the eastern end of 890 (the five or so miles you'll be on it), but there is if you go from 25A to 26 (the western end of 890).  To get to Union college I'd just take I-90 east when you get to the end of I-88 then get off at exit 25 (the next exit), and go to Union by exit 4-C on I-890.  

Just to warn you guys, I-88 is extremely treacherous in the snow.  Quite often it will be a sunny day but you will happen to drive through a few blinding snow showers in Schoharie or Oneonta.  You should also be advised that the road goes through lots of small mountain towns with speed traps.  The cops mostly hide out in the U-turn things.  In fact, I've heard that Princetown (at the extreme northern end of the road) doesn't have a property tax and the town's entire revenue is supported through speeding fines mostly from the Interstate (though this may not be true).

[jy3]

i agree with justin except that taking 90 east to 890 west to union is longer. not sure which will be shorter during the time  that you will be driving.
i drove this past saturday night down 88 and the snow wasnt too bad. but friday it was aweful i am sure.
there is a cornell function before the union game too.
i can search for the info if anyone is interested. ::nut::

[Anne 85]

I've driven along route 88 more often than I care to remember (en route between Boston and Ithaca), and I consider the "mystery snow" to be a benefit, not a drawback.  It provides a brief diversion from the bucolic scenery and usually doesn't significantly affect the driving conditions.  

In fact, I've often wondered what causes these snow squalls (I've had plenty of time to ponder, since the radio reception is pathetic along most of 88) -- it's almost as though a ski area had decided to make snow on the road rather than the hills.  Any meteorolgists out there?

Oh, and I've been told that Duanesburg is a major speed trap.  It's also toward the Albany end of 88.

[jtwcornell91]

One exception to the dire radio situation on 88 is the abundance of college stations around Oneonta.

[Al DeFlorio]

This is why God evolved cars into having CD players.

[Jim Hyla]

I wouldn't be surprised if alot of those aren't the tail end of lake effect. We, in Syracuse, know alot about them and they can be very isolated. You can get bands of snow that will travel over 100 miles and yet only be a few miles across.

[Jim Hyla]

Or satelite radio.

[jy3]

yeah, jim. i remember being in awe of the lake effect snow that came off of cayuga and the other finger lakes the first time it happened. the wind has to be just right. of course you were talking about the great lakes :-)

[Hooligan]

    As far as the "mystery snow", it has been my belief that it's due to the lake effect and the catskills/helderbergs. For any lake effect that goes south of Syracuse the catskills, whose nothern parts are called the Helderbergs, is the first real uplands in the way. Thus causing a water dump on the windward side, on route 88.
   More importantly, the state troopers have begun setting up camp on the outer side of I88N. This removes the predictability of looking for uturn signs on the left. I know, I have a court appearence in Cobleskill on the 23rd because of it. So beware they could be hiding on the right. Also, the only place I have seen troopers on I88 is either right after you get on it, from 206, or as others have said towards te end of the ride.

[Jim Hyla]

True, but you hardly need hills to get dumped on by lake-effect. Just ask anyone in the Parish to Pulaski part of Rt. 81.