Getting to New York City’s airports has never been easy. But now, some savvy travelers are saying they’ll avoid LaGuardia completely, due to nightmarish road conditions that come as a byproduct of the airport's attempts to rise to replace the “third world” facility famously maligned by Vice President Joe Biden. During its transformation, the airport continues to operate at full capacity, and construction-related gridlock from the roadway to the terminal entrance is so bad that people are fleeing their cars and schlepping their bags for that last mile in order not to miss their flights.

This should have been foreseen: LGA occupies in what, by airport standards, is a very tight space—a mere 680 acres compared to JFK's 5,000, and there’s no public transit connection directly to the terminals. But should you just cross the airfield off your list until the project is completed in 2024? Probably not. Or maybe the right answer is, you probably can’t.

After all, there’s a reason 31 million airline passengers flew from LaGuardia last year, putting it among the 20 busiest airports in the country: it’s a mere eight miles from Manhattan, and it’s home to the Delta and American northeast shuttles and other high-frequency services popular with road warriors. Once you get through security, it’s actually not—dare we say it—a bad place; the twin Delta terminals, especially, were recently spiffed up with new restaurants, banks of iPads, better Wi-Fi, and new lounges.

Still, that doesn’t mean that travelers shouldn’t be outraged—not just by the epic traffic, but also by the lack of helpful information. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the city’s three major airfields (the third being Newark), has set up a system of alerts and advisories that give little concrete advice other than saying “allow extra time,” although the Port recently announced some short-term fixes to add extra lanes to unsnarl roads between the airport’s four terminals. It also routinely recommends taking public transportation, despite the lack of good options; as one post noted on the LGA Facebook page “the only public transportation that actually goes into the airport is the bus, which goes on the same roads that have been totally messed up by your renovation….”

So what are travelers to do? The Global Gateway Alliance, an advocacy group calling for airport improvements, is teaming with the Riders Alliance to push for dedicated services like the new “LaGuardia Link” bus, which launched last month to help get some riders from Manhattan, and is essentially a rebranding of the Q70 express bus. The alliance proposed that the shuttle be offered free of charge to encourage ridership—but that idea, so far, has fallen flat. (It’s also encouraging the airport to launch a shuttle bus to the nearby subway Astoria subway stop on the N and Q lines.)

"New York is one of the greatest cities in the world, but this is really our Achilles heel."

“We need to get more passengers out of cars and onto mass transit,” says Joe Sitt, alliance chairman. “We’re only four months into an eight-year overhaul, and it’s time for the Port to take serious action before this traffic nightmare devolves into a chronic issue.” In an interview with Condé Nast Traveler, Sitt noted that if the already-sorry image of New York's airports worsens, it could be bad for the city overall. “We’ve gone from ‘first’ to ‘worst,’” in airport surveys, he says. “New York is one of the greatest cities in the world, but this is really our Achilles heel.”

Another proposal that cuts out much of the maligned highways includes reviving the ferry service that once whisked passengers from the city’s waterfronts to the Marine Air Terminal, the Art Deco gem that is home to the Delta shuttle, and where a shuttle bus could connect to other terminals. (The Port Authority did not return request for comment on these proposals.)

In the meantime, however, most of us will still be trekking to the airport in a car, whether hired or driven by a very devoted family member—or friend. Some tips, from an Uber driver based in Queens, on surviving the mess:

Try to avoid evening, as those are the worst hours for both traffic to—and within—the airport.

Terminal B, aka the Central Terminal Building, is the most clogged of all, following demolition of the short-term parking garage across the way. Departing passengers can ask to be dropped off at the arrivals area on the lower level.

Terminals C and D, served mainly by Delta, are somewhat easier to reach, and can also be accessed on foot by a pedestrian bridge spanning the Grand Central Parkway. (If the traffic is really horrendous, drivers who know the back roads can drop you on that side of the highway, and you can walk over to the airport—obviously, best if you’re traveling light.)

For arriving passengers, LGA has a cell phone lot at the P10 long-term parking lot, which has shuttle bus connections to the terminal.

The driver, who asked not to be named, admitted that there’s a limit to what you can do. “There have been some times when I’ve sat in traffic for 45 minutes to one hour without moving, and I’m already inside the airport,” he said. “If someone’s waiting for me to pick them up, often, they’ll just give up.”