Five stretches of New Jersey highways are among the 50 worst bottlenecks in the country, according to a report released Monday. Watch video
WASHINGTON -- Jersey drivers know it all too well: Clogged traffic on the same roads, the daily torture of inching ahead as time is lost and gas is guzzled.
Now a new report by a highway advocacy group shows New Jersey has five of the nation's 50 stretches of road with the worst traffic bottlenecks -- jammed highways that cost Garden State motorists a total of $197 million in wasted time every year.
Traffic backups at the Lincoln Tunnel, for example, cost motorists an estimated $87 million, making it the eighth-worst bottleneck in the nation, according to a report issued Monday by the American Highway Users Alliance, whose members include trade associations representing truckers, tires and recreational vehicles.
The five worst in New Jersey and where they rank in the U.S.are:
Ranked 8 - The Lincoln Tunnel between 10th Avenue in New York and John F. Kennedy Blvd.
Ranked 18 - I-95 between Route 4 and Palisades Interstate Parkway in Fort Lee
Ranked 19 - Pulaski Skyway between I-95 and Central Avenue in Newark
Ranked 31 - Routes 1&9 between Wilson Avenue and I-78
Ranked 37 - Pulaski Skyway between Tonelle Avenue and Broadway
"I'm surprised there's only five," said Cathleen Lewis, a spokeswoman for the AAA New Jersey Automobile Club.
Including four bottlenecks in New York City, the New York-New Jersey metropolitan region is the second-worst in the country, behind only Los Angeles, according to the report.
The report says there's a big cost to waiting in traffic: The congested stretch of I-95, less than a mile long, costs motorists $38 million in wasted time as they spend 1.5 million hours a year sitting in traffic and needlessly burning 810,680 gallons of gasoline, the report said.
There's also traffic pain in Philadelphia, which has two bottlenecks on the list: the Schuylkill Expressway at U.S. 1; and I-676, the Vine Street Expressway, just east of its terminus at I-76.
Adding to the problem is the existing roadways are aging, with no new construction in sight. The first tube of the Lincoln Tunnel was opened in 1937; the Pulaski Skyway in 1932.
"We have neglected our infrastructure," Lewis said. "We are basically living on the crumbling dreams of people who lived 100 years ago. You can see that in rankings like this. We have let it get to this point."
The two Pulaski Skyway bottlenecks carry a price tag of $51 million. The state is spending more than $1 billion to rebuild the 3.5-mile highway, with work expected to be finished in 2020. The northbound lanes, closed since 2014, are scheduled to reopen by the end of the year, weather permitting. Then traffic will be detoured onto the newly completed part while the southbound lanes are closed for repairs.
Besides saving money and time, removing the bottlenecks also would save gasoline and reduce polluting emissions, the report said. For example, fixing the Lincoln Tunnel choke point could save 1.7 million gallons of fuel and eliminate 35 million pounds of exhaust.
"These findings are critically important and mean that our nation will derive huge benefits from fixing the worst gridlock in our nation's highway system: benefits that go way beyond improving mobility for highway users," said Greg Cohen, president of the American Highway Users Alliance.
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The report was issued as Congress debates a six-year plan to fund roads, bridges, railroad and transit. Congressional negotiators, including U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6th Dist.) and Albio Sires (D-8th Dist.) are trying to reconcile differences between separate bills passed by the House and Senate.
The House bill eliminates a special funding program for New Jersey, and six other northeastern states with a large number of public transportation riders that would take away $50 million a year from NJ Transit.
"This report furthers the unassailable truth that America is stuck in traffic," U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement. "The good news is that this problem is solvable, and Congress can be part of the solution."
But neither bill fully funds transportation spending over the next six years nor increases allocations in order to fully address a backlog in highway construction projects. Lawmakers and President Obama have opposed increasing the federal gasoline tax in order to raise more money for transportation.
In Trenton, New Jersey's Transportation Trust Fund is running out of money and the Democrats in the state legislature are looking at ways to replenish the account. An increase in the state gasoline tax, which at 14.5 cents a gallon is lower than every other state but Alaska, has been among the options being discussed.
Republican lawmakers are resisting, with some insisting other taxes be cut in return.
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
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