NJ road closures making less and less sense

As I mentioned before the holiday, it was a busy travel weekend for the Spadea family. All the airport runs were successful, but the experience had me thinking that communication is something missing in our government.

On the way for the first run Tuesday morning before Thanksgiving, the truck lanes on the New Jersey Turnpike were closed north of exit 9. So, all the traffic coming from Route 1 and Route 18 had to squeeze into one ramp. It looked as if construction was underway on one of the bridges so maybe this was a critical repair.

Not sure, but earlier in the week I was on Route 287 and there were lane closures for miles causing a one-lane back up delaying us about 30 minutes. The reason? A couple of guys, one truck, a bucket of fill, and a shovel. Not sure how a bucket of dry fill was going to make a difference in the massive pothole problems up and down 287.

Either way, maybe the road signs can actually warn drivers at a point where you can make a decision to reroute and exit before the traffic piles up. Instead, we get silly, snarky signs that some have said are a distraction to drivers and have been canceled by the Federal government.

It's embarrassing that NJ had to be smacked down by federal highway officials, but when they act like children, they shouldn't be surprised that someone had to play the adult.

Back to the airport. On Wednesday night my wife Jodi and I had an event in Westfield and should have been about 15 minutes from the airport to pick up my son. Well, we got to the airport in about 15 minutes and then sat for 34 minutes getting from Terminal A to Terminal C.

All of the "arriving flights" ramps were closed. No reason was given, no signs, just packed traffic into one lane. Perhaps this is all in anticipation of the new terminal slated to open this month, it only cost $3 billion, so let's see if that's the issue with the arriving traffic. Am I the only one skeptical?

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Spadea. Any opinions expressed are Bill's own. Bill Spadea is on the air weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m., talkin’ Jersey, taking your calls at 1-800-283-1015.

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