George Washington Bridge Nightmare Set To Begin Late On Saturday Night
FORT LEE, N.J. (CBSNewYork) - Starting late on Saturday night -- at approximately 11 p.m. -- there will be plenty for drivers to deal with when crossing the George Washington Bridge into New York.
It's all because of construction, and the headache will continue into the fall.
Just hours from the start of one of the largest construction projects in the history of New York, one driver told CBS 2 that he knows exactly what's coming.
WCBS 880's Paul Murnane reports
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"It's going to be a mess," he told CBS 2's Amy Dardashtian. "It's going to be a mess."
"I think we're going to have a lot of trouble getting into the city," another driver complained.
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A new phase of construction on the Alexander Hamilton Bridge is the cause. Eastbound motorists heading from New Jersey to New York will be squeezed from two lanes into one as they come off the George Washington Bridge. That will cause a ripple effect, which will back up traffic for miles.
The news has local Izumi Wakamatsu rethinking her plans to visit a friend on Saturday night.
"Going into the city? That would be really terrible," Wakamatsu said. "[It starts] tonight? Oh my god, I'm supposed to go [into the city]. Wow, I didn't know that."
The traffic buildup is expected to spill into parts of New Jersey, and it could potentially clog local streets in towns such as Fort Lee, Leonia and Englewood.
"I've seen it where it backs up all the way to where I live, all the way to Hackensack," one New Jersey man said.
That has local officials, like Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, considering securing town perimeters to insulate his residents.
"You can rest assured, lawsuits notwithstanding, that if it's reported to me by our emergency service officials that they're unable to get to where they need to go, we're going to shut down Fort Lee in certain sections," Sokolich told 1010 WINS. "That I can guarantee."
Cars traveling on Interstates 80, 95 and the Palisades Parkway will all be affected, and trucks heading to the Bronx for business will only create more of a wait.
Will you be staying away from the George Washington Bridge tonight, or do you plan to give it a shot and take on the potential madness? Sound off with your thoughts and comments in the section below...
