Best roads from Rochester to Northern NH (Gorham)?

Need to drive from Rochester to Gorham NH (a little North of Crawford Notch and Tuckermans) pretty soon and Google maps shows a route which jumps off 90 and goes through Rutland  for quite a bit on state highways.  If I drag the route to be 90 East to 81, Then North , it shows about a half hour longer.

Question; is it really only a half hour longer to go on mostly divided highway? Or are there traffic problems I don't know about?

Time of day and day of the week might be a factor, I suspect you could get slowed down in Rutland's traffic lights during busy times of the day/week (think mid-week morning/evening commute times and when school buses are on the roads). But I've used US Route 4 to go east/west through VT to get to/from NY and it is as good as any route north of MA Route 2 in MA to do the east/west thing. It is a really nice drive. Just don't speed in the small towns just east of Killington, quite a few speed traps.

Ya can't get there from here...

I drive around New England quite a bit for work.  No way to sugar coat it that drive will suck.

I hate Rt 4 and and avoid it at all costs - that way will definately take longer than Google says it will.  Its not just the lights in Rutland but even worse all the small towns near woodstock - watch for speed traps.  Both the NYS Thruway and Mass pike trend south which makes your route longer.  I guessing that Google wants you to cut thru the back way to Saratoga which can also be pretty slow.

Might be worth looking at Thruway to 787 to Troy and then NYS 7 to VT 9 to 91N.  I think 9 is much faster getting across VT then Rt 4.

I guess I am mostly interested in knowing if the all expressway route  (90  to 91) is really just a half hour longer than the jumps across either Rutland or Bennington. More miles for sure, but luxury driving. Seems possible but Google maps can be screwy.

Dude, Route 66!

To put it in perspective 90 goes south more than the N / S height of Mass.  That is about an hour of driving IF there us no traffic.  Look at the map.  You roll your dice and move your mice.  No option is great but I'd skip the Rutland route for sure.  I'd go thru Bennington

Coach Z has obviously had some bad experiences on 4 but I'd ask again what time you plan on driving through there. I've never not been able to do the speed limit while driving route 4. Rutland can slow you down depending on time of day, but the rest of the road, just hold the speed limit and you'll be able to hit G Maps estimated times. It all depends what time of day and what day of the week. I've gone through Rutland multiple times without getting held up... but I've never driven through there during peak traffic hours.

I can't imagine adding 30 minutes is worth the highway travel when you are already driving a long ways. In addition to 30 minutes, the Pike in MA will also add some toll money on top of the extra fuel consumption (both in terms of distance and higher speeds).

This would be a Saturday drive- hitting Rutland/Bennington around noon- 1pm.

The Rutland part is not so bad.  I used to work at Killington so I know all the ways around the lights.  I hate the section east of Killington where it us two lanes with no passing zones and speed limits that go up in down.  Throw in some trucks and it takes forever to get to 91

It will take 2.5+ hours to go from the northway to 91

dudes!!!  why RU not telling him to use Route 66!!

Coach Z wrote

The Rutland part is not so bad.  I used to work at Killington so I know all the ways around the lights.  I hate the section east of Killington where it us two lanes with no passing zones and speed limits that go up in down.  Throw in some trucks and it takes forever to get to 91

I guess it is just driving preferences. I don't mind Route 4 east of K. That is how I access the mountain. For the most part, the speed limit is 45-50 with a few towns. I think there are three 25 sections. I just do the limit and enjoy the drive. Pretty road, one of my easier commutes. But every VT area I drive to except Jay has a 25 MPH section, so I probably have just gotten used to small towns being located on the major routes.

And if you go 4 you have to go thru Bridgewater Corners