Mahwah, NJ — A tangled Monday morning commute unfolded across New Jersey as downed utility poles, crashes, and routine congestion converged to paralyze major routes, leaving drivers gridlocked and late on one of the busiest days of the week.
As of 7:30 a.m., NJ 17 in Mahwah Township was completely shut down in both directions south of West Ramapo Avenue and Ridge Road due to a downed pole. Emergency crews were on the scene as traffic was forced to reroute through surrounding neighborhoods, bringing secondary roads to a crawl.
Just before that, at 7:09 a.m., another downed pole—this one coupled with a crash—blocked the right lane of North Avenue westbound in Elizabeth near Kapkowski Road. The incident has been causing backups through a busy commercial corridor already pressed by early-morning truck traffic.
In Florence Township, a third downed pole on US 130 southbound, just south of the New Jersey Turnpike Pennsylvania Extension, forced a complete southbound closure, while northbound lanes remained open. That situation began just after 7 a.m. and remained ongoing during peak traffic volume.
Meanwhile, slowdowns stretched for miles on nearly every major artery, with volume-related delays stacking up on the Garden State Parkway, New Jersey Turnpike, and I-280. At 7:58 a.m., NJ 17 northbound near I-80 in Lodi saw congestion despite all lanes remaining open.
The Garden State Parkway saw multiple hot spots: a 2-mile delay northbound from south of Exit 89A in Lakewood to north of Exit 90 in Brick Township, a 1.5-mile jam in Cranford to Kenilworth, and a 4-mile backup from East Orange to Bloomfield.
Further north, the Turnpike’s Western and Eastern Spurs were both clogged. The Western Spur saw a 2-mile delay northbound from the Southern Mixing Bowl to just before Interchange 15W in Newark, while the Eastern Spur added 3 miles of traffic stretching into Kearny. The inner roadway in Linden backed up for a mile approaching the Goethals Bridge.
Delays were reported on NJ 29 in Trenton, NJ 21 in Clifton and Newark, NJ 495 into Weehawken, and NJ 139 into Jersey City—each feeding directly into Manhattan-bound crossings already under strain. By 7:12 a.m., both upper and lower levels of the George Washington Bridge showed 30-minute travel times from I-80 to the Alexander Hamilton Bridge, while the Lincoln Tunnel registered 15-minute delays through both the center and south tubes.
Pulaski Skyway’s northbound side remained slow from Tonnelle Circle into Jersey City as of 7:03 a.m., though no incidents were reported.
Compounding the morning traffic woes, several construction zones added pinch points, particularly along US 46 in Denville, Rockaway, and Parsippany-Troy Hills. Lane closures on US 322 in Woolwich Township and US 22 in North Plainfield further contributed to slowdowns across Central Jersey.
By 8:01 a.m., the New Jersey Department of Transportation had not indicated any timeframes for clearing the downed poles, though detours and traffic diversions were still active.
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Key Points
- Downed poles shut down NJ 17 in Mahwah and US 130 southbound in Florence Township, with another partial closure in Elizabeth following a crash
- Major delays hit the Garden State Parkway, New Jersey Turnpike, and Hudson River crossings during peak hours
- Construction projects across US 46, US 22, and US 322 added to the congestion impacting statewide traffic
A web of utility pole failures and heavy volume gridlocked the state’s highways in a messy start to the week.
