Newark, NJ – Drivers across New Jersey faced a messy Wednesday morning rush as accidents, construction, and heavy volume combined to snarl traffic on major highways.
As of 7:08 a.m., a crash on I-280 westbound near Exit 10 in West Orange closed the right lane, backing up traffic along the busy corridor. Just minutes earlier, an unplanned construction delay on NJ 73 southbound in Evesham shut down one lane and the right shoulder, slowing commuters headed through Camden County.
North Jersey commuters ran into volume-related slowdowns on NJ 17 in both directions, with delays reported between Lodi and Rochelle Park. On I-280 westbound in Parsippany, drivers also saw delays, though all lanes remained open.
The Garden State Parkway was slow in multiple spots. Southbound traffic stacked up between Bloomfield and East Orange with a two-mile delay, while northbound drivers encountered congestion from Lakewood to Brick and again exiting at Woodbridge near Exit 127.
Major river crossings were also clogged. At the George Washington Bridge, travel times reached 25 minutes on the lower level and 30 minutes on the upper level. Lincoln Tunnel commuters faced 20-minute waits through both the south and center tunnels.
Elsewhere, NJ 4 eastbound in Teaneck, NJ 10 in Roxbury, US 206 in Mount Olive, and the New Jersey Turnpike’s western spur in Newark all saw delays due to heavy volume.
Key Points
- Crash on I-280 westbound in West Orange closed one lane during morning rush.
- Construction on NJ 73 southbound in Evesham caused major slowdown.
- Long delays hit the George Washington Bridge, Lincoln Tunnel, Garden State Parkway, and Turnpike.
For many New Jersey drivers, the first workday after Labor Day turned into a stop-and-go crawl.
