Millburn/Maplewood Traffic is a Mess Tonight - Friday October 9. What gives?

Took an hour to get from JFK Parkway at Parsonage Hill Road to Plymouth Avenue. Parsonage Hill, Old Short Hills Road, Glenn Avenue, Prospect were all a mess. Is some major thoroughfare closed? And no, I don't think it's Springfield Avenue, since that's not supposed to start up again until much later tonight.

Um, thunderstorms? Holiday weekend? Bad Kharma?

This started pre-thunderstorm. Columbus day - don't think it has the cachet it used. Kharma - maybe. Though it was way worse than the usual Friday afternoon cluster****.

max_weisenfeld said:
Um, thunderstorms? Holiday weekend? Bad Kharma?

This happens regularly. In part due to traffic trying to avoid the construction in the S curves.

I hit it too, Glen Ave was closed at the Millburn Library (at least at 3:30 when I was there) which I think contributed.

Glen Ave. was being repaved today between Brookside and Sagamore. Coming soon: On Oct. 12, Old Short Hills Road will be closed between Glen and Jefferson.

Is it too much to ask that these planned road closures be announced so that commuters have at least a chance in hell of finding alternate routes? Not that there are any alternate routes, but it would be nice to know about these ahead of time so I don't get caught in the cluster-f*ck!!!

Bets, most of them are announced in advance, but no government knows everywhere you drive to personalize your info across multiple jurisdictions, so your best bet is one of the many traffic apps out there, so that you can check before you drive.

I get tweets from the township sent as alerts:

https://twitter.com/MillburnTwp?lang=en

susan1014 said:
Bets, most of them are announced in advance, but no government knows everywhere you drive to personalize your info across multiple jurisdictions, so your best bet is one of the many traffic apps out there, so that you can check before you drive.

I guess signage is too much to ask? And I'm not targeting only Millburn - South Orange/Maplewood are terrible about giving advance notice of road closures.

j_r said:
I get tweets from the township sent as alerts:
https://twitter.com/MillburnTwp?lang=en

Announcing a road closure 23 minutes after the fact doesn't strike me as helpful. Even less so is the unfulfilled promise of an update before schools are dismissed...

Most folks get this type of information from phone apps these days. Install Waze and use it routinely and you won't get nasty suprises.

bets said:

susan1014 said:
Bets, most of them are announced in advance, but no government knows everywhere you drive to personalize your info across multiple jurisdictions, so your best bet is one of the many traffic apps out there, so that you can check before you drive.

I guess signage is too much to ask? And I'm not targeting only Millburn - South Orange/Maplewood are terrible about giving advance notice of road closures.

I too would like to have signs up. Sure, I could check my phone every time I get in the car but what would it hurt for the powers that be to put up a sign two days before they close a road so that those who use that particular stretch of road daily would automatically be informed?

Seems like a no brainer to me.

It only costs money to send people around erecting temporary signs (or takes them away from other tasks) so is only done for bigger projects...

mjh said:
Most folks get this type of information from phone apps these days. Install Waze and use it routinely and you won't get nasty suprises.

I love Waze and use it regularly on highways, but for secondary roads it is not as useful. For example, when SO Avenue was closed a few months back, Waze was directing me to use it to get home...

susan1014 said:
It only costs money to send people around erecting temporary signs (or takes them away from other tasks) so is only done for bigger projects...

Really? I would be happy to pay an extra buck or two in taxes to save myself from being late for a meeting because they've decided to tear up Jefferson Avenue again (without warning).

Another colossal clusterf&ck coming home this evening. I have no idea what happened, but Old Short Hills Rd. going towards Millburn was backed up for several miles. Hopeful me takes a left to go to SOA; that's backed up past the light at OSHR. I continue on to Northfield and it, too, was completely backed up.

Anyone know what happened?