Interstate 95, where it meets Route 4 in Fort Lee, is the second most congested stretch of highway in the country.
WASHINGTON -- Ready to cross the George Washington Bridge?
You already know you'll have to wait. What you may not know is that you'll be crawling through one of America's epic spots for traffic congestion.
Interstate 95 where it meets Route 4 in Fort Lee, just west of the bridge toll plaza, is again the second most congested bottleneck in the nation, behind only the intersection of Interstate 85 North and I-285 in Atlanta, according to the trucking industry's annual report.
And things are getting worse: the average speed through the area was 25 mph during rush hours, down from 27 mph in 2016.
"I don't know if there is any way to fix it," said Gail Toth, executive director of the New Jersey Motor Truck Association. "You plan to wait. It's calculated into the costs of doing business."
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The figures come from the American Transportation Research Institute, the education and research arm of the American Trucking Associations, the trucking industry's trade group. They are based on GPS data from more than 800,000 trucks.
I-95 in Fort Lee moved into the second spot on the rankings last year, where it overtook the Chicago intersection of Interstates 290 at Interstates 90 and 94. That intersection remained in the third position. I-85 in Atlanta has had the dubious distinction as being the congested stretch of highway for three years running.
Toth said more truckers making early morning or making nighttime trips to avoid the traffic in Jersey's most congested spot. During off-peak hours, the average speed through the area climbed to 39.4 mph.
The only other New Jersey location in the top 100 truck bottlenecks was Interstate 287 in Piscataway, coming in at No. 26. The average speed through that area is close to 49 mph, dropping to 38 mph during rush hours.
"That's sort of a nightmare," Toth said. "We've exceeded the space, They've built so much along 287. We never ever improve our infrastructure when we do that. It's bumper-to-bumper all the time and that's starting early in the morning."
The intersection of Interstates 76 and 676 in Camden County was ranked 97th in the list released last year but dropped out of the top 100.
The report was issued in advance of plans by President Donald Trump and Congress to rebuild the nation's public works. Trump came into office promising an infrastructure program but has yet to offer any proposals.
"As we focus on infrastructure, I do have hope these locations will start to improve," said Rebecca M. Brewster, president and chief operating officer of the
American Transportation Research Institute.
"When the economy is good, we're going to have more demand for goods, and therefore more trucks. When you see increased truck traffic, it means the economy is doing well but we to fix these lcoations."
The top 10 are:
1. Atlanta's "Spaghetti Junction," the intersection of Interstates 85 North and 285.
2. I-95 at Route 4 in Fort Lee.
3. I-290 at Interstates 90 and 94 in Chicago.
4. I-75 at I-285 north in Atlanta.
5. Route 60 at Route 57 in Los Angeles.
6. I-90 (Massachusetts Turnpike), at I-95 in Boston.
7. I-695 at I-70 in Baltimore.
8. Long Island Expressway (I-495) in Queens.
9. I-71 at I-75 in Cincinnati.
10. I-64 at Interstates 64 and 71 in Louisville, Ky.
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.