Traffic in New Jersey

Welcome to the State of Traffic. It’s like you can’t get anywhere in the State of New Jersey fast – or, sometimes, at all.

There are very few main highways that crisscross New Jersey. Sure we have the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike running north and south. We even have Interstates 287 and 295 that cut across west to east with a few smaller interstates. There are also a few state highways, county roads and back roads; but these are more for local traffic, are backed up with traffic and are hampered by speed restrictions and so many traffic lights you might as well be seeing green, yellow and red spots after so much driving.

Contrary to popular belief, New Jersey is not all cities. Most of it is actually very rural and open. In fact, with the exception of Camden and Trenton, almost all of New Jersey’s cities or metro areas are in the northeast part of the state. Even there traffic is terrible. But for the rest of us, there are very little pathways to access the state. Which is why traffic on what we have is so bad.

You would expect a state as populous as ours to have an adequate infrastructure. We should be able to get from one point of the state to any other with ease. That’s far from the truth. There are no direct routes, making any trip circuitous. And the roadways in service are decades old and in serious need of maintenance. And not the kind we see now where some workers get paid to sit by the side of the highway talking and drinking coffee.

It takes two to three times longer than it should to travel in the Garden State. Throw in when schools open, summertime or the Holiday Season and you have a recipe for a guaranteed parking lot in every thoroughfare. It’s time for serious solutions, but it will take more time, money and work than we may be willing to put into it. And I wouldn’t place my bets on the boys and girls in Trenton to do anything soon.