(Driving in Armonk at 5 mph through a Nor’easter on Nov. 7, 2012. Photo credit: Ed Forbes, The Journal News/LoHud.com)
Athena aggravated last night’s commute, to say the least.
Members of our staff, who live across the metro area, all reported challenges during their travels from our new headquarters at 1133 Westchester Ave. in White Plains and from our offices in West Nyack and Mount Kisco.
I set out for my home in Mount Kisco from White Plains at 5:45 p.m. last night. Rye-bound Westchester Avenue, the thoroughfare that parallels the Cross Westchester Expressway, was jammed with commuters trying to reach the Hutchinson River Parkway, interstates 684 and 95 and Connecticut’s Merritt Parkway. I opted for Route 120, a surface road that runs north from the Sound Shore through Westchester County.
My plan, while excruciatingly slow, worked for a time. I crawled north through Purchase and I passed the Westchester County airport. Signals were still disabled because of Sandy and County Police were omnipresent. In North Castle, where Route 120 runs with Route 22 for a brief distance, I thought I had it made.
Not so.
At Nanny Hagen Road in Mount Pleasant, traffic stopped. I turned around, took Route 22 north to Armonk and opted for Route 128. At 7:45, I reached the Mount Kisco village/town limits. By 8 p.m., I was home.
Alex Weisler, one of our reporters who covers northern Westchester from our Mount Kisco office, joined us for dinner and stayed overnight. He lives in New City and, because the Saw Mill River Parkway was closed, sat for three hours on Route 117 in New Castle before turning around.
Other colleagues and friends reported similar nightmares.
Phew.
Mike Meaney, our morning digital editor, reports a smooth commute this morning. Here’s to hoping. Safe travels, all.
What was your commute like last night? Leave your stories below.
27 Comments
I started my journey at around 4 pm in Peekskill, wanted to go to my home in Dutchess via Taconic North. From about the Route 6 Entrance to Route 301 (Cold Springs) took me about 5 hours… most of this time was dead stopped… parked…..!!!!!!!!!!!! This happened to my wife last winter. Who is in charge of removing snow and sanding/salting this stretch of Parkway? Please do not say that they could not get through because of Traffic… in such an emergency they can get on the Parkway North at 301 go southbound and help those poor people get moving. The way the State handles the Peekskill Hoow Road Hill is Negligible!!!!!!!!!!!
There was no excuse for the mess at Peekskill Hollow Road on the Taconic last night. The snow started VERY early in the day, and salt trucks should have been spreading material in preparation all day. People who drove on the Taconic last night took their lives into their hands because of a small, contollable accumulation of snow. Somebody should be held accountable. What a disgraceful performance!!
Started in White Plains. Took 1 hour to get to Kensico Damn; Took another hour to get to Peekskill. Almost dies in Ossining due to everyone in Westchester County having bald all season tires. (all season tires suck in all seasons) Took another hour to get to 301, took another hour to Hopewell. Home. I have netted that the road where not treated in Westchester prior to storm. Final observation: No need to drive with hazards on, we all know it is snowing. Rather, take that energy and drive to Sears and buy Snow Tires, and while your there buy a generator for the next storm..
From Mount Kisco to Peekskill took 1 3/4 hours. One hour just to get out of Mt Kisco.
Not a plow, sander or public shovel in sight. Roads were horrible. Cars could not get up the hills.
Once I reached the Yorktown town line, sanders, plows were out and roads were passable.
Got to Cortlandt Manor and the same thing. Peekskill same thing.
Thank you Yorktown, Cortlandt Manor & Peekskill….Mount Kisco…TAKE NOTE!
it took them 45 minutes to de-ice my helicopter and clear the helipad. Inconvenient at best.
Left White Plains at 4:30 last night, arrived home in Peekskill at 6:05. I’m with Jeffrey up there… folks, please go out and get yourselves some snow tires-buy them used if you have to, but please… for all of our sakes, stay off the road if you don’t have decent tires. Buses and trains were running… you’d (and the rest of us) would have been a lot safer.
As for the roads, they were not salted, not plowed. Not in White Plains and Not on any of the County parkways I was on. Shame on Westchester as well… it started snowing at 11:00am… more than enough time to get the salters out.
Westchester is such a wonderful place. Everyone is too cheap to cut trees and too cheap to buy good tires in anticipation of winter…. what losers
Driving from Yonkers to Bronxville. Took 18 hours. Was trapped without food or water. Had to eat my beloved poodle, Mrs. Fancy, to survive. I do not regret it, her strength became my strength.
This was the worst commute I’ve had on the Taconic, and there have been some horrific ones. The entrance ramp at Millwood is always a mess with people skidding and getting stuck. But the biggest problem is that the road is not treated by road crews until AFTER rush hour. There was one mile that was plowed-
between Baldwin Road and the exit for FDR park-and then the road was covered in 4 inches of snow and ice. It took me more than three hours to get from White Plains to Peekskill; thankfully, route 35/202 was clear.How about the Journal News investigate the policies for plowing the Taconic? Without fail, in every storm I’ve driven home in throughout the years, the plows are going SOUTH toward White Plains while the traffic going north is dealing with 4-6” of slush and washboarding from the ice. What management decisions need to be revised to improve the safety of this road in a storm?
Thank you!
By the way, I have snow tires. Yes they help, but I’ve never put them on this early in the year—and with temperatures in the 60s next week, it’s not time to have them on yet. It’s not just an issue with tires; it’s the road maintenance.
Left my office in Stamford at 4:15 PM en route to Brewster. Headed north on Long Ridge Road only to get stopped about 2.5 miles away from the end of the road in Pound Ridge. Made a U-turn after watching numerous cars and an ambulance turn around. Headed back to the Merritt Parkway and decided to venture south. After passing Exit 33, traffic came to a halt. It took over 3 hours to move 2.4 miles until I could finally exit at North Street (Exit 31) in Greenwich. Cars were spinning out everywhere and stopped in the middle of the road or off in the snowbanks. There was so much traffic and no room for a plow to get through – yet there were none in sight anyway. After getting off at North Street, roads were not touched as I ventured north where the road becomes Bedford-Banksville Road and then Greenwich Road. I slowly made my way north on Route 22 and hopped on I-684 North in Katonah. Thankfully, traffic was moving at this point. I finally made it home at 10:30 PM, over 6 hours after I had left Stamford.
From LIC, NY to North Putnam – 4.5hrs – 7PM – 11:30PM.
NYC, NYS did not appear prepared for this storm. The highways were not properly treated for this storm. It seems the predictions for the storm accumulations were WIDLY off the mark, and it really caught the gov’ts unaware.
In any case – took the BRP through White Plains, as the Sprain Brook was shown as a mess on Google Maps. Jumped onto 100 at Hawthorne because the Taconic was a parking lot. 100 -> 118N -> 202/35N -> 132N -> Berger -> Peekskill Hollow. Glimpses of the Taconic the entire way showed it was a disgusting mess. The backroads were better plowed than the highways. The Taconic was a parking lot from Shrub Oak to PHR due to a stupid box truck that was on the Taconic, and then people idling out of gas because the wreck didn’t get cleared in a timely fashion (heard some people were there for 4 or 5 hours). I spoke to a trooper who was blocking the onramp to the Taconic and he said they were ferrying people to the gas station to get some gas in their cars.
The trip would have taken me a little over two hours if it wasn’t for the abundance of people in NYS who think it is a good idea to drive in a snow storm in a front wheel drive POS. I wonder if the gas money they saved not getting a four wheel drive vehicle offsets the cost of crashing into a ditch on the side of the road?
Left North Brewster at 5:00 got to Putnam Plaza in Carmel at 5:30. Only 10 minutes longer than usual even though the roads were a mess and the traffic light at Exit 19 off of I-84 was not working properly. Why? Because I put my snow tires on the day before the storm.
Took 2 hours to go from Exit 27 NY 120A (King St.) – Armonk to Exit 28 – that is 3 miles so I averaged 1.5 miles per hour. It was horrible. Was so hungry I ate my gloves.
Left W.Plains at 4:15 … Arrived home in Mahopac at 7:30! 684 was ATROCIOUS!! Cars down embankments, cars stuck in middle of road! Very, Very, Very Slippery! NO SAND/NO PLOWS! Where the H were they all? Like others have said, this storm started WAY BEFORE Rush Hour, no reason why the roads could not have been tended to earlier! NEVER AGAIN. I’m leaving the office at the first drop of a flake next time!
Left Purchase at 4:00 going west on 287, spent an hour there till i finally got to exit 3. got onto the sprain and then sat on the taconic for nearly 4 hours moving at 0. i finally got up to 202 in yorktown and was able to get off and get gas. i was literally shaking and had to calm down before getting back in the car to make the last leg home via bear mountain parkway to route 9, then to 301 in cold spring. i got home a little after 10pm.
If the taconic had been treated or plowed, this disaster would never have happened. I just don’t understand it, they had plenty of warning and time to prepare. i did not see one plow, not one. when i got up to route 301, the roads were clear and down to pavement! What a nightmare! it was crazy! N E V E R A G A I N! 6 hours to go 34 miles is absolutely ridiculous!
I left work (White Plains) at 4pm, and I got home (Somers) at 7:40pm. At one point, I was traveling toward Mt Kisco on Rt 172 and SOMEONE in the opposite lane had stopped in the road. Come to a complete halt. Going nowhere. No sign of skidding, not out of control. Lights on, engine running, but parked in the middle of his/her lane on 172. Traffic was backed up from this masterful bit of driving for miles. 172 was also notable for the moment when I let a plow out of a side street in front of me, only to see it drive ahead with the blade up and then turn down another side street…..It was the only municipal plow I saw during the whole ride home. Where were all the plows?
left Bronx at 4:15, got to Mahopac – after leaving caron side of Taconic by Croton Res. – at 1:30 am. No plan of action at all from Westchester. All roads in Mahopac plowed perfectly – as usual. Why subject commuters to no plowing salting etc???. Situation was dangerous, yet 911 was busy, not one trooper until about 11:30 pm. Where were the highway crews??
Got off Metro North in White Plains at 7:10, cleared car and headed for home (Somers). On ramp to 684 on 287 East was stopped. Proceeded to next exit on 287, got on Westchester Ave towards White Plains, entered 684 North from Westchester Ave. FOUR 18-wheelers were stuck in different lanes on the on ramp/access road, plus about 5 cars (shiny new RWD sports cars and muscle cars). Proceeded about 1 mile, complete stop. U-Turned to 684 Southbound, exited at Mastercard/Purchase, got on 120, 20 mins to Armonk. 684 N was still stopped (as viewed approaching overpass on 22) so stayed on 22 North. Two accidents on 22 North and myriad stuck cars on inclines in road and ditches made it TWO HOURS to 172 in Bedford. Took 172 to 117 Mt. Kisco, to Katonah and then 35 to Somers. Walked in house at 11:00 PM – Nearly 4 hours to cover 22 miles. State, County and Town officials acted reprehensibly yesterday with neglect that rises to the level of recklessness, needlessly endangering many lives. This is to say nothing of the drivers that should not be driving in weather they cannot handle in cars that cannot handle it with tires that are not made to handle it. Pathetic all around.
Terrible all around for many. Keep in mind that original forecast for much of metro NY was for about an inch of snow, not accumulating much on hard surfaces. In central Westchester, we ended up with 6-8” snow by morning. I, as others here noted, have snow tires, but have not yet put them on, as warm temps are predicted for several days. And, with original forecast minimizing snow, expected an easy commute home last night. So wrong! I only have about 5 miles to drive, with two stop signs! Took about 30 min – nothing compared to the marathon times suffered by others, but did slide off the road twice! I suspect the highway depts and state DOT were as unprepared as many of the drivers.
I left Boston Post Road in Larchmont at approximately 5:48EST this morn. Whence arriving at my car, I found that several snowmen had been built on top of it, likely by some of the more muscular children in my dangerous neighborhood. After attempting to remove the snowmen, I realized I was boned: They had frozen to my rough. Apparently those muscular youths used water as a bonding agent, and the night cold had made permanent lovers of my roof and the snowmen. What was I to do? I had to be at work (starts promptly at 6:30 or 6:45, they aren’t too picky about when we show up) at the old folks home in Rye. So I turned on my ol’ beater of a car (2012 BMW) and I was off. The snowmen were killing my fuel efficiency, but other than that, smooth car sailing. UNTIL: the rising sun’s mighty rays were able to transfer heat to my roof. Good news, right? Wrong/nope. The solar radiation was making the snowmen start to debond from my roof. They were swaying very fiercely, as the movement of the car continuously jostled those big white blokes. Ultimately, they fell onto my windshield, their faces looking up at me, MOCKING ME. I crashed my car into a local school bus and was several hours late to work but my boy Tito punched in my time card for me so it’s all good.
Left White Plain at 4 and reached Cortlandt at 7:00. Taconic was a parking lot. The slightest hill and cars were all over the place. Did not see a single plow on the North bound lanes. Saw maybe 2 going south. Not a smart move! Husband left Cortlandt at 3 to go to Mahopac to get kids and did not make it home until 7:30. Just a mess all around. I would like to thank all those who have SUV’S and think its ok to drive like jackasses. You are the people who cause accidents. I myself have an SUV and drive slow and safely.
I left work from (Somers) at 10:PM, and didn’t arrive home (Rye Brook ) till 12:45AM. This is a normal 24 min commute.. Last night was the worst commute I’ve experience on 684. The entrance ramp at Golden’s Bridge was a big mess. Half way down the hill my car began to skid. There must have been at lease 3 inches of snow and ice on the road. Once on 684 South the road condition was far worst than the ramp. Cars were stuck all over the road and it was very slippery. Why in Gods name wasn’t this major interstate PLOWED AND SANDED???? The Dept of Highways dropped the ball on this one….......Governor Andrew M. Cuomo C”MON MAN!!!
I left the Bronx at 5:30 pm and walked in the door at 9:30 pm in Mahopac. No plow in sight. One person said snow tires don’t make a difference? Are you kidding me!!! It makes a hell of a difference. I knew the storm was coming last week, I went out and got my snow tires on. It made a H of a difference!! There were cars stranded on the Taconic and others slipping and sliding all over the Taconic because they didn’t have snow tires on in the first place! AND … If only the snow plows were out to clean the roads in the first place, where were they!!! We all had warning this was coming! NO Excuses folks! We had this happen last year, a heads up for next year… winter is a coming sooner that later!!! Be prepared, you’ve been warned!!! A car without snow tires can plow right into me a car with snow tires on!!! Be responsible people! And why were there trucks on the Taconic in the first place!!! HELLO, you trying to kill us!!!
My kids attend a private school in the White Plains/Hartsdale area. They ride home in a van run by a private busing company. They left school around 3:30 and at 6pm I got a call that the bus couldn’t make it. I had to go pick them up in Hawthorne in my 4WD. The Taconic was a parking lot. I finally got home with the kids at 10:15pm, and they still needed dinner.
Moral of the stories? Never trust a weatherman … they know as much as we do.
Listen, I am a weatherman and I can tell you firsthand that meteorology is not a science. It’s more like a humanities topic, akin to poetry and yogurt preparation (frozen yogurt not greek yogurt, obviously). Anyone who claims to know how to magically predict things is a fakir (spelled that way on purpose, like Indian fakirs) and should be shown the door immediately. If outdoors, this aspect may not apply.