2598LMT Issues - NYC - Since Recent Update

 

I have no idea where else to "ask", so POIFactory gets my question smile

Two years ago, I traveled Orlando to Key West to Ft. Myers back to Orlando, not a single problem.
One year ago, I updated it and used it to travel from Ohio to Charleston, SC aagain no problems.

In preparation for a trip from Florida to Madison, Connecticut this week, I updated the unit a week ago.

On a map, the roads and options in & out of New York City looked like spaghetti, so I looked at a map, got a basic idea and let the GPS decide the route.

To avoid the GW bridge, I selected a destination on the East side of the Tappen Zee Bridge, assuming it would take us North thru NJ.
The GPS routed us to the GW Bridge and then directed us into the wrong lanes. We ended-up @ 230th St & 7th Ave. (wherever the heck that is).

I worked our way out of the city on 9A/Saw Mill Pkwy.
Then the GPS took us to Danbury, Ct. instead of to I95 East.

I planned a route S-SE back to I95, keeping Madison as the destination, but not following the GPS directions.

On the way back towards Madison, the GPS "directions" were wrong 75% of the time, directing a right turn when left was correct.

I'll admit the rain and traffic made the travel feel worse, but now, sitting with a cup of coffee and looking at a map, the errors the GPS made are so obvious.

Any idea what could have caused this?

TIA,

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Nuvi 2598LMTHD

Fastest time and shortest distance

In driving on I-95 north the GPS routed you across the Hudson River on the George Washington Bridge rather than the Tappan Zee Bridge even though your intermediate destination was on the east side of the Tappan Zee Bridge. This was done because the route taken is both the fastest time and shortest distance.

In reality it is not, because the traffic on the route you took is like entering the Twilight Zone! One way to get around it would be to create a via point on the eastbound lanes of the Tappan Zee Bridge and include it in a saved route (now called a trip in the Trip Planner app onboard the GPS).

Getting off the bridge you took the wrong ramp and ended up on local streets in Manhattan. No matter how good Junction View is, it can't deal with the lane and exit arrangement of the George Washington Bridge, either eastbound or westbound, upper level or lower level. This is the busiest bridge in the world!

Once on the east side of the Tappan Zee Bridge, you should have gone eastbound on I-287 to I-95 north once again. I do not know why the GPS could not go on that route.

The Tappan Zee is usually a good alternative to the George Washington Bridge, but it may not be now, since construction of the new Tappan Zee is ongoing a short distance away. Recently giant cranes on barges have been working very close to the existing bridge to build supports for the new bridge, and the bridge has been completely closed to traffic in one direction at times.

dobs108 smile

Yikes

Well, that certainly wasn't a pleasant trip.

I assume you've checked your settings after the update, particularly Avoidances and made sure you have Faster Time selected if that's your preference. Your Traffic situation may also have had some effect on routing. I don't know about toll bridges or roads in that area, but you can really create havoc telling a nuvi to create a route with an Avoid Tolls avoidance. What are your Avoidances?

Regarding left instead of right directions, this can happen when your satellite fix is poor, either from starting navigation before the nuvi really knows where it is, while travelling in canyons or cities filled with skyscrapers, and finally you mention rain and that may have degraded your location's accuracy.

I've had some experience with having a nuvi create a very long route and found that I had better luck not creating a AZ to FL route but rather a AZ to TX, then TX to FL as an example. If you were travelling a FL to CT route, I'd try dividing the route into maybe three or four miniroutes. This may or may not have affected your issues.

To avoid a route over a bridge you don't want to travel on, you created a route with a forced midpoint. I've had issues with routes with forced midpoints and found that sometimes a single midpoint is less functional than having multiple midpoints. There are also issues when your midpoint is passed nearby but not exactly and the nuvi wants to reroute you back to actually arrive at the midpoint. Changing from a Waypoint to a Shaping Point can help avoid this.

I don't know if any of this helps.

One last thought. Especially on a long route but true for most routes you have your nuvi create for you, it's well worth looking at the entire route displayed in the nuvi to see if it makes sense before choosing to follow the route's directions.

My son's g/f used the Tappen

My son's g/f used the Tappen Zee two days before and said it was fine, just a minor slowdown.

His friend was a day ahead of us and said the GW was at a complete standstill.

I planned the trip to avoid rush hour in all the major cities and that worked.
LOL if we had been in the NYC mess at rush hour I might have stopped and decked the truck driver that stopped in the middle of the street, blocking both directions to unload.

I should have mentioned the GW wasn't "bad", we were not stuck sitting there at any time. Just didn't expect to pay the toll and use it.

The trip was broken down into smaller sections
Ft. Myers to Fayetteville, NC.
Fayetteville to Baltimore
Baltimore to W. Nyack.
W. Nyack to Madison, Ct.
I thought I had all the bases covered - haha

I'm wondering if there was something in the updates that glitched it?

Maybe it was just the 2 days of rain idea rolleyes

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Nuvi 2598LMTHD

Avoidances

The Nuvi 2598 has a unique feature for custom avoidances.Allowing you to avoid specific areas. Just wondering if that may have made a difference . https://goo.gl/NrzcIZ

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Charlie. Nuvi 265 WT and Nuvi 2597 LMT. MapFactor Navigator - Offline Maps & GPS.

Bridge Links

Here is a map of the New Jersey approach to the George Washington Bridge:

http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/refdata/sldiag/enlarge...

Here is a video of construction at the Tappan Zee Bridge:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8DqV8UbVfE

Here is a video of some exciting views of bridge painters high atop the George Washington Bridge. I am getting vertigo just watching this video. You can just about make out 05Glide's car far below. He looks like an ant! razz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx0LwtLl4-M

Travel that route often with my 2598

and do the same, avoid the GWB. One way to do so is to put a via point up near the top of the Garden State Parkway, I use the Montvale Service Area, Garden State Parkway #172, Montvale, NJ (approx. N41° 02.948' W74° 03.945') because I always fill up there before heading into CT where the gas prices are much higher. With the via point I end up getting off I-95 at Exit 11 (Garden State Parkway), drive the Parkway all the way to the end (I-87/287) then take I-87/287 over the Tappan Zee Bridge. From there its either the Henry Hudson Parkway (NY) to Merritt Parkway (CT) or take I-287 down to I-95 and take that into CT. I usually take the Henry Hudson/Merritt Parkway because the traffic through Stamford, Norwalk and Bridgeport in CT on I-95 can be tough at times even during non rush hour times.

Or as was mentioned above use Route Avoidance and select and entire stretch of road/highway to avoid.

My 2598 gets a little wonky in NYC and portions of NJ because of the Car/Bus/Truck lanes and the various tunnels/bridges. Its why I end up using the via point to avoid NYC entirely.

Edit to add: Traveling in NYC has always been tough with Garmin's for as long as I've used them (many, many years) when not using specific via points.

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Nuvi 2598 | Nuvi 350 | eTrex Vista | eTrex 30x

Great route!

That's a great route, especially the Merritt Parkway. A Garmin would never go that way.

dobs108 smile

too bad, no way to select cheap toll

if you set via point at WEST side of Tappan Zee bridge (instead of east side), you have very good chance to get directed to Tappan Zee bridge. Both bridges are tolled, but, TZB is way cheaper than GWB. Problem is, you can't pick cheaper toll on the setting unless you tell your device which sections to avoid as other suggested.

Yes, the Tap

abin wrote:

Both bridges are tolled, but, TZB is way cheaper than GWB.

is much cheaper ($5) than the GWB (from $10.50 to $15.00). One only looses about 10 minutes driving up to the Tap versus crossing at the GWB. That time is often recovered due to the usual traffic jam that happens on the mess that is the Cross Bronx portion of I-95. The stupid designed ramp from the Garden State to the eastbound I-87/I-287 sometimes gets backed up as well if drivers don't say in the left lane on the exit ramp for I-87/I-287.

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Nuvi 2598 | Nuvi 350 | eTrex Vista | eTrex 30x