Many states to the south of New York have been hit with freezing temperatures thanks to a weather pattern that’s shoved cold arctic air down to them and it looks like it will sit over them until the end of the month, which, thankfully, is only a few days away.

With the freezing weather in the lower 48 has come snow and ice, leaving residents in states to the south of us struggling. While two inches of snow and ice might seem like nothing to us, they're not used to driving in those kind of conditions.

Navigating New York's Winter Roads

Even though we New Yorkers might be pros when it comes to winter driving, it can still get a little bit scary at times. Even though we’re collectively pretty confident in our winter driving skills, certain roads still strike fear in our hearts.

Surveying Scary Winter Roads

Gunther VW Daytona did a survey where they asked residents of each state to tell them what road both in their state and across the United States they thought was the scariest road to drive on in winter and the results were interesting.

America's Top Scary Winter Roads

Interstate 90 (I-90) right here in New York ranked right up in the top five scariest winter roads. The reason is that Western New York gets heavy snowfall from Lake Erie which means snow, ice, and limited visibility. Surprisingly, I-90 was second nationally only to Alaska's Seaward Highway which took the top spot because of its conditions and narrow lanes.

Notorious Winter Roads in New York and Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Route 6, located an hour away from the Southern Tier, was ranked as the third most scary winter road in the country. Other New York roads on the list include the Taconic State Parkway, Interstate 87, and U.S. Route 9W along the Hudson River.

State Route 17 Challenges in the Southern Tier

Interestingly, State Route 17 was named among the scariest roads to drive in New York during winter. Route 17 passes through some pretty mountainous regions here in the Southern Tier and many of those regions are known for having heavy snow and ice. New Yorkers say the sharp curves and steep inclines of Route 17 mess with their nerves during the winter months.

I found this survey interesting because I’ve spent the better part of my adult life driving on Route 17 and can’t say that I was ever so scared of it that I would go out of my way to avoid driving it.

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On the other hand, I’ve driven I-81 up around Watertown during the winter and if I never have to do that again, I wouldn’t complain – that road in that particular area of New York can be downright terrifying.

20 States With The Worst Roads In The Country

U.S News and World Report has ranked all the states according to the quality of their roads. These are the worst 20.

Gallery Credit: jrwitl