I'm trying to travel from the intersection of Gorman and Kaplan to Exit 282 taking I-40 West on weekday mornings. I'm planning to leave between 7:15-7:30.

I'll admit I've never traveled that section of I-40 at this time of day, I used to work nights up that way but never early mornings. Google Maps says the trip should take about 25 minutes, which is about how long it took me with little/no traffic.

How much longer will it take me to get to Exit 282 from Gorman Street taking traffic into account?

Is there a way that might be faster than other ways?

5/13/2009 5:54:23 PM

Quote :

"I'll admit I've never traveled that section of I-40 at this time of day"

Get up tomorrow morning and do a trial commute. Rinse, repeat Friday and Monday.

[Edited on May 13, 2009 at 5:58 PM. Reason : gh]

5/13/2009 5:56:32 PM

it's going to take double that around 7:30-8:30

5/13/2009 5:56:41 PM

7:15 will probably be early enough to miss the worst of the traffic, just stay all the way to the left and haul ass...it's the drive home that sucks.

5/13/2009 5:58:18 PM

I used to travel down 40 West EVERY morning to exit 280 from Gorman St. (exit 295) to work at IBM. I could make it in 12 minutes, but that's hauling ass. I'd say, realistically, allow like 20-25 minutes for your travel time, so yes Google is pretty accurate.

I didn't leave til' around 8:15, and it wasn't too bad. HOWEVER, if you see the overpass over Gorman backed up/at a stand still, then just go down Gorman to Faircloth to Wade. Take Wade Ave. to 40 (puts you on 40 at 289). Fortunately for me, I didn't have to detour too much out of my way (well, really NOT at all) to make a swift decision. I would leave my complex by that Exxon and come to the light at Gorman and look down to my left and then go whichever way accordingly.






[Edited on May 13, 2009 at 6:00 PM. Reason : .]

5/13/2009 5:58:24 PM

Take Kaplan to that wierd/random 440 ramp to wade ave. You'll miss most of the traffic. I used to do this every morning when I lived in the trailwood of tears area and it was still quicker than taking straight I-40.

5/13/2009 6:02:40 PM

^ ONLY if 40 isn't backed up. If it's just regular flowing, you can make it PAST Miami Blvd. (282) in 10-15 minutes. If I can drive from my driveway to Davis Dr. allllll the way down to the IBM gate, then you can surely make it in 25 minutes to 2 exits CLOSER.

Oh yes! The next exit up (293 and US-1/440) will be an absolute BITCH to get past. Once you're past that, it's smooth sailin'. That's where I spent the bulk of my travel time. Just take the back route to Wade, then 40.

[Edited on May 13, 2009 at 6:12 PM. Reason : .]

5/13/2009 6:05:18 PM

going past exit 293 and the beltline is going to suck. take back roads from kaplan and get on 40 at entrance/exit 291

5/13/2009 6:08:28 PM

715 is sometimes early enough to dodge the traffic at 293 but not always, with today being a great example. I try to leave by 7:10 at the latest everyday before I40 turns into a parking lot.


If you leave at 7:15 it will take you anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes everyday depending on what you hit and assuming there isn't a major wreck that can make it take an hour (or three hours if you get really unlucky like i did on my first day of work)

5/13/2009 6:09:50 PM

yeah it was a fucking nightmare this morning

I was about 20 mins late for work today

5/13/2009 6:20:08 PM

This is exactly relevant to my interests.

5/13/2009 6:38:26 PM

I drive the 35 miles down I-40 to 147 in Durham on a regular basis. When there are not any traffic issues, I make it there in about half an hour. When there are traffic problems, it takes me at least twice as long to make the trip. It's hard to predict the traffic problems. The last two trips to Durham at 8:30 in the morning went smoothly and I got there ridiculously early for our 9:30 appointment. But this morning, I left at 8:30 and I was 10 minutes late to our 9:30 appointment.

I would allow myself twice the amount of time that it would take me to get there when traffic runs smoothly to be on the safe side. That's what works for us.

5/13/2009 6:51:58 PM

Thanks for the help everyone! I will probably do this tomorrow morning just to make thing easy for myself.

Quote :

"HOWEVER, if you see the overpass over Gorman backed up/at a stand still, then just go down Gorman to Faircloth to Wade. Take Wade Ave. to 40"

Is there a traffic camera you can use to view these areas in real time?

5/13/2009 6:52:50 PM

weak..talk to me when you have to go through chicago traffic

5/13/2009 7:38:58 PM

Quote :

"Take Kaplan to that wierd/random 440 ramp to wade ave. You'll miss most of the traffic. I used to do this every morning when I lived in the trailwood of tears area and it was still quicker than taking straight I-40."

It's the Melbourne exit on 440, and yes, I too have used that route back in the day

5/13/2009 7:51:10 PM

i lived over near Carter Finley and work over near garner so I'd take I-40 East from exit 290. I'd leave around 7:30-7:45 and traffic would usually be pretty much at a stand still as far as I could see west of Chapel hill rd all the way to Lake Wheeler.

[Edited on May 13, 2009 at 8:52 PM. Reason : ]

5/13/2009 8:48:28 PM

i thought this thread had something to do with time travel... damn dyslexia

5/13/2009 9:00:01 PM

Quote :

"Is there a traffic camera you can use to view these areas in real time?"

Huh? No. Re-read my post. Here's what I said:

Quote :

"Fortunately for me, I didn't have to detour too much out of my way (well, really NOT at all) to make a swift decision. I would leave my complex by that Exxon and come to the light at Gorman and look down to my left and then go whichever way accordingly."

5/13/2009 10:41:27 PM

hardly any traffic at all at that time. the only place on 40 that backs up then is i-40 and us-1, and it's not really that bad at that time of the morning.

25 is probably spot on.

I used to go from 295 (gorman) to 270 every morning at this time. took me 20-25 minutes (on I-40; 30-35 minutes total commute).

[Edited on May 13, 2009 at 10:51 PM. Reason : .]

5/13/2009 10:48:29 PM

this is the route i had to take, and it took me on average 20-35 minutes to get to work

5/13/2009 10:57:10 PM

I am sooo glad I get to take I-40 East from Gorman to get to my new job. Very little traffic. Same for the trip home.

5/13/2009 10:57:11 PM

Google maps suggestion is exactly what I was going to suggest to you...(geez fuck the link)


Like people have mentioned, as early as you're leaving you shouldn't have a lot of problems and it'll take 20-30 minutes. I'd avoid going down to exit 295, going that way puts you through the worst spot for the morning commute and when its bad its REALLY bad.

[Edited on May 13, 2009 at 11:07 PM. Reason : didn't realize how long the link was. Google it ]

5/13/2009 11:07:10 PM

turn on the news when you are getting ready in the morning.

every station does a traffic report with camera feeds. if the traffic is unusually backed up, you will know which route you need to take to get there the quickest.

it will vary day to day.

i live off of exit 312 and have to drive to Chapel Hill first thing in the mornings occasionally. the traffic report lets me know where my problems will be.

the traffic starts backing up in Johnston Co. first (70 Bypass to 70 Business), then at US1/64, then at Wade/40.

It sounds like you will be leaving early enough for it not to be a problem most days, but, nevertheless, there will be a wreck at Wade that will mess you up every now and then.

5/14/2009 8:32:06 AM

Quote :

"I didn't leave til' around 8:15, and it wasn't too bad. HOWEVER, if you see the overpass over Gorman backed up/at a stand still, then just go down Gorman to Faircloth to Wade. Take Wade Ave. to 40 (puts you on 40 at 289). Fortunately for me, I didn't have to detour too much out of my way (well, really NOT at all) to make a swift decision. I would leave my complex by that Exxon and come to the light at Gorman and look down to my left and then go whichever way accordingly. "

5/14/2009 10:53:06 AM

Quote :

"it's going to take double that around 7:30-8:30"

more than likely, you are driving most of your commute in the worst part (well up by the durham freeway exit also gets bad from crapple hill backup...)

5/14/2009 11:48:32 AM

Traffic camera? Really?? haha, just leave early the first few days. you are thinking too hard about this

5/14/2009 12:26:07 PM