5 pm April 7 - AVOID Valley heading towards Springfield Ave/78 West on ramp

EBennett

Apr 7, 2015 at 11:48am Edited

Traffic is backed up all the way to the light at Vauxhall.

At 3pm they had blocked off the 78 overpass heading to Springfield and "detoured" traffic along 78 West (what brilliant mind thought that made sense?)

At 5pm the offramp from 78 East to Springfield is blocked off.

There is no sign of construction.

NotFromMuskogee

Apr 7, 2015 at 11:52am

Just going home from the opposite direction. Complete nightmare. The westbound side of the overpass on Springfield (heading toward Morris Ave) is closed, so ALL traffic has to get on 24 west via the on-ramp. I happened to be going that way earlier, so no big deal, but I can't imagine all those poor people who were headed toward Rt-22 via Miesel. Ugh.

annemarie

Apr 7, 2015 at 12:01pm

@notfrommuskogee but it's not backed up the way you were going, correct? (The Home Depot side) Rubbernecking or whatever...

author

Apr 7, 2015 at 12:04pm

A 300 mile drive back to Maplewood from West Virginia and we get stuck in the quick sand of Jersey
traffic, A police officer directing traffic in front of Home Depot would have moved everyone along with some efficiency. So many cars trying to squeeze themselves past the traffic lights blocked the intersection over and over and over again.

NotFromMuskogee

Apr 7, 2015 at 12:06pm

I came that way from Morris (east toward Maplewood) 4:35ish and it backed up just after the bridge, well before that first light before Home Depot. It was a minimally creeping standstill until I turned left on that little street by Target to cut through to Valley. I can't imagine how long it would have taken if I had to keep going toward Vauxhall.

NotFromMuskogee

Apr 7, 2015 at 12:08pm

Exactly what author said ... I think the eastbound issues were caused by all the westbound traffic blocking intersections. I'd imagine anyone coming off of 78 onto Vauxhall, then trying to make the left onto Springfield is up sh!t creek.

annemarie

Apr 7, 2015 at 12:09pm Edited

duhhhhh. (Sorry) that's exactly what you said.

seaweed

Apr 7, 2015 at 12:10pm

This is not the first time within this week... it was same a couple of days ago, not sure what was causing it...

sac

Apr 7, 2015 at 12:24pm

OK ... so if I need to get to 24 West in about an hour, how should I go? (Through Millburn?)

EBennett

Apr 7, 2015 at 12:27pm

Does anyone know where we can complain about this? It seems to be a state or county construction project but it would be nice if the Union police could be helpful for once.

optimyst

Apr 7, 2015 at 12:33pm

This time it is a truck accident.

EBennett

Apr 7, 2015 at 12:39pm

Where was the truck accident? As I posted previously at 3pm the overpass was closed off for construction

truegrid

Apr 7, 2015 at 1:11pm

Agree, too many times today roads blocked through Maplewood, Millburn, Vauxhall, Short Hills, Springfield and Summit - not one time did they post a sign to help you avoid it and detour you in time

icdart

Apr 7, 2015 at 1:15pm

There was an accident at 49A ...but as we drove along we could see that the traffic going west went for miles .
This was posted for miles ..but there was no alternate exit except for the left handed one to Millburn ..which I did not see quickly enough.

It was really bad as we exited 49B and made our way through the jug handle to Valley ( could have gone to the Irvington A e exit , but did not anticipate who hard it would be to exit through toValley)

The traffic going along Springfield Ave toward Irvington would block the intersection and basically one or two cars made it across to Valley ...opposing cars were turning left towards Irvington .it was a nightmare .

All of this as we watched traffic being allowed to get onto 78 W ...some alternate route should be in place whether it is caused by an accident OR construction ....I'd be looking for other ways home if this occurred a lot ...police were no where assisting in this massive jam.