- Poll of 3,004 drivers to find out which rush routes prompts the biggest soul searching.
- Other New Jersey routes were NJ-495 + Garden State Parkway.
- Infographic included.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Angelenos love to poke fun at how much time they waste on the 405 – a freeway so clogged near spots like LAX and the Sepulveda Pass that it’s practically a rite of passage. Down in Miami, some stretches of the I-95 are essentially a daily parking lot, with heavy commuter and tourist traffic snarling its lanes. Drivers bake under the Florida sun as they ponder why they didn’t take the train – or even a jet ski – to work. All over the country, people stuck in these infamous backups turn to podcasts or catch up on phone calls to kill time. But once the distractions dry up, they’re often left alone with their own thoughts, mulling over some of life’s heaviest questions.
Potamkin Hyundai ran a poll of 3,004, asking drivers one simple question: which rush hour stretch makes you rethink your whole life?
The top five spots nationally turned out to be all New York and New Jersey routes. No shock there, really!
#1 I-95/New Jersey Turnpike (Newark to George Washington Bridge), New Jersey
This chunk of road is the East Coast’s traffic torture chamber. Heading toward the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, it’s regularly crowned the worst traffic chokehold in the country. Down by Newark, where the Turnpike’s car and truck lanes mash together, it’s pure chaos. Picture multiple lanes of cars, trucks, and buses all elbowing for space, only to slam to a standstill as they squeeze toward the bridge. New Jersey drivers stuck in this mess often find themselves wondering big things: Why shell out steep tolls for this headache? Could I just paddle across the Hudson instead? With hours lost here every year, there’s plenty of time to rethink everything.
#2 I-495 Long Island Expressway (Queens & Long Island), New York
Running from the Queens-Midtown Tunnel out through Nassau and Suffolk, this is Long Island’s lifeline – and it’s usually jammed up tight. During rush hour, especially around Queens and western Nassau, the LIE slows to a pace so sluggish it’s a running local gag. Drivers get literal hours to stare at the bumper sticker on the car ahead and chew over their lives. Maybe the whole Long Island deal – big house, grassy yard, brutal commute – starts to feel shaky. Is it worth slogging home every night behind a landscaping truck just for that? Some dream of swapping it all for a tiny place in Manhattan: no lawn, sure, but also no marathon crawl to go 20 miles.
#3 I-95 Cross Bronx Expressway (Bronx), New York
The Cross Bronx is one of the kings of traffic nightmares. Often called the most jammed-up road in the U.S., this short piece of I-95 hauls cars to and from the George Washington Bridge through a sunken slice of the Bronx. Calling it an “expressway” feels like a sick joke – during rush hour (and most hours, frankly), it’s a honking, stressful standstill. The delays here hit so hard that people start rethinking their entire existence. Sitting under graffiti-covered overpasses, you wonder why you’re paying sky-high New York rent to rot in your car. Some toy with escaping the city for good. Others, creeping along in fits and starts, mull wild career switches – maybe driving a cab at night would at least keep them moving. But dodging it’s nearly impossible for most New Yorkers, so the dread just keeps simmering. The Cross Bronx doesn’t just delay you – it makes you question your whole path.
#4 I-278 Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE, Gowanus to Kosciuszko Bridge), New York
The BQE keeps Brooklyn and Queens connected, but it’s a daily grind. The stretch under Brooklyn Heights – tucked beneath that triple-decker setup – and up through Williamsburg to the new Kosciuszko Bridge is a slow-motion disaster. Narrow lanes, potholes, and way more cars than its 1940s designers ever dreamed of make it a perfect mess. Rush hour here gives you all the time in the world to study the graffiti overhead and rethink your life. Peeking at the Manhattan skyline as you inch along, you might wonder, “Why not the West Coast? Sure, they’ve got traffic, but at least it’s not freezing.”
#5 NJ-495 (Lincoln Tunnel Approach), New Jersey
The haul from the NJ Turnpike to the Lincoln Tunnel is short but brutal, earning a rep as one of the East Coast’s most packed stretches. Buses zip by in their special lane while everyone else stews in bumper-to-bumper hell, half-tempted to ditch their car for a bus seat next time. The crawl is so maddening you start questioning every choice that led you here – why did driving in ever seem smart? Maybe a job in Hoboken would spare you the Hudson crossing. Or working remote from some quiet spot in Hunterdon County? By the time you hit the tunnel tolls, you’ve probably mapped out a whole new life just to dodge this slog.
Outside of the top 5, another NJ spot included was:
Garden State Parkway (East Orange to Clifton, Essex/Passaic Counties)
The Garden State Parkway, despite its pretty name, can be a garden of agony during peak hours, especially north of Newark. The section around East Orange through Bloomfield into Clifton is an absolute classic crawl nearly every evening. Multiple merges and sheer volume make this stretch a worst-in-Jersey contender. After enough days of inhaling fumes in this mess, one might spontaneously decide to alter work hours or petition the boss for remote days.
Infographic showing with rush hour routes prompt drivers to rethink their lives
“We’ve all been there – stuck in traffic, staring at the same license plate for way too long, and suddenly you’re rethinking everything,” says Frank Pena, owner of Potamkin Hyundai. “Our poll shows these gridlocked highways aren’t just a hassle – they’re where people wrestle with life’s big moves. Maybe these rush hour routes will inspire a lot of drivers to shake things up and make changes for the better.”
ROUTE 3 BRIDGE FAMOUS FOR HIGH-SPEED CHASE
https://theridgewoodblog.net/route-3-bridge-famous-for-high-speed-chase/
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