While the world watched New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie explain that he had no part in the “bridge-gate” scandal, people quickly took political sides on the controversy. Not me. I looked at the situation as a traffic reporter.
In my role as a traffic reporter there are many factors that I have to take into account every morning to make sure you get to work on time. Traffic volume, special events, crashes, stalled vehicles, loose live stock, rain, sleet, snow, ice, brush fires — the list goes on and on. But until last week, I never thought that I would have to consider political vendettas in my traffic reporting duties.
So what exactly happened in New Jersey last fall that caused such traffic delays and now such political squawking? Here’s an account ccording to the Associated Press:
“For four days in September, two of the three approach lanes from Fort Lee to the George Washington Bridge — one of the world’s busiest spans — were closed, causing massive gridlock on the town’s streets, delaying emergency vehicles, school buses and commuters.
There had been suggestions for months that the closure was done to punish the town’s mayor — a Democrat — for his refusal to endorse Republican Gov. Chris Christie for re-election. Copies of emails and text messages obtained by The Associated Press and other media organizations showed that was apparently what happened.”
The lane shift didn’t actually impact traffic on the George Washington Bridge, just traffic trying to get on the bridge from Fort Lee.
“The massive gridlock that occurred was on the local streets in Fort Lee,” said WCBS Radio News Director Tim Scheld. “That’s why it flew under the radar for the first few days.”
How bad was the traffic?
“It was brutal,” said Gil Wolchock, an Atlanta resident who was working in New York during the time of the lane closure. “There was no communication and no idea why we were sitting there.”
To put the jam in an Atlanta perspective, lets say, hypothetically, that the governor of Georgia wasn’t happy that the mayor of Woodstock didn’t endorse him for the next election. To punish the mayor, the governor then asked for a fake traffic study on the ramps from Highway 92 to Interstate 575/south bound during morning drive. The lane closures would cause serious gridlock on Highway 92 and other side streets in Woodstock. The impact probably wouldn’t be as severe as it was in New Jersey, but you get the idea.
Since the publicity of this “scandal” has reached the far ends of the globe, I doubt we’ll ever see a politician or political operative ever try this maneuver again, but lets just say I’m going to keep a close eye on lane closures along Interstate 75 in Atlanta when the Braves play their first game in their new Cobb County stadium in 2017.
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