Please help - Driving around marathon (NYC 11/3/13)

amother

Mon, Oct 28 2013, 9:25 pm

Can't seem to figure this out on my own. All I can find online is a map of the route but no advice on how to get anywhere that day. Lots of advice to runners and supporters but none for ordinary citizens trying to continue with their lives. I assume it will be a nightmare. The route seems to run straight through the whole Brooklyn. I imagine there will be no way to cross that line in a car? Does that mean nobody will be able to get from Brooklyn to Manhattan or Manhattan to Brooklyn all morning and much of the afternoon?!

vintagebknyc

Mon, Oct 28 2013, 9:52 pm

amother wrote:

bqe, or prospect expressway. goes right over 4th ave to other side

amother

Mon, Oct 28 2013, 10:07 pm

BQE is a good idea but doing that would still take me waaay out of the way because I think the BQE is still on the wrong side of the marathon where I need to go. I guess I will have to take the Subway and just do some extra walking myself! Will take longer than my usual drive but probably not longer than driving through marathon city! Waiting for evening is not an option for me.

amother

Mon, Oct 28 2013, 10:26 pm

Lightbulb moment! I just realized that my route does not actually cross the marathon! (annoyingly, the marathon course map includes very few streets besides the actual ones it's running on. I had to mentally superimpose it on google maps. Why can't they just highlight the route on a regular map instead of erasing all the actual streets?!) Anyway now the question is what should I expect from traffic in general - still worth taking the train if I do have a clear driving route? My driving route does not cross the marathon but it does come within a couple of blocks, anyone know what radius will be blocked off by security or personnel or whatever? My destination is about 3 blocks away from the marathon, right in middle of the time frame that it will be going on. I usually park about a block further away anyway because it's easier. Think it'll be hopeless this Sunday? Incidentally, this is in the heart of frum Williamsburg at around the same time it is usually clogged with schoolbuses - I wonder if/how the local populace is going to deal with that!

syrima

Tue, Oct 29 2013, 10:17 am

Don't try it - it's not worth it. We had to do this 2 years ago and could not get around the police barricade - it makes much more sense to take the subway - literally it took us 2.5 hours!!!! SOOOO frustrating.

morah

Tue, Oct 29 2013, 11:09 am

Security is going to be tighter than usual because of what happened at the Boston marathon. Also, even if your route technically avoids the actual race, you will be contending with all the traffic diverted from the routes that are closed. Best to use the subway. Also, during the peak of the race, they won't even let you walk across the barriers.