On Thursday and Friday I went on a few customer visits and I decided to drive. Leaving Newark,DE on Thursday morning at 5:15 AM I stopped at the Dunkin Donuts and got some coffee and a breakfast sandwich. I drove up the NJ TPKE and crossed the George Washington Bridge with hardly any traffic nightmares. I hit the Cross Bronx Expressway and ran into a small tie up. Going into CT was really no problem, and I made it to New Haven with a lot of time to spare. I had lunch with a customer and continued on up to Hartford and into the Boston suburbs for another appoinment. The calm before the traffic storm!
On Friday, I had two appoinments and left Boston around noon. I got on 95 south and ran into a traffic tie up, when it cleared I ran into a three hour mess between New Haven and the Housatonic river. I decided to spend the night with friends near Bridgeport after this nightmarish delay. Saturday morning I ran into traffic around Stamford, CT and of course on the Cross Bronx EXPY it was a mess. I got across the George Washington Bridge and ran into an hour delay at exit 8 ( Freehold, NJ) After that tie up it was clear until the 896 exit in Newark, DE .
I hit a traffic jam on every highway and in every state I went through returning home. Can you imagine if your network worked that poorly? Would you deal with a company that created havoc in every part of every transaction you made with it. Of course not! Why don’t state highway administrations treat us as customers? Why do they do major road work in the middle of the day? In our company all major network changes have to occur when the office is closed or lightly staffed. I wonder when the folks in charge of roadwork will discover the concept of doing major work when it will impact business the least? Maybe they can post some detour signs?
I wonder how much it costs our economy to have the Northeast a traffic nightmare? And I know that in every region of the country I drive in I run into traffic nighmares. Does anyone in Government care? If Government can’t maintain & fix the roads why are we paying high gas taxes and tolls?
Let’s fix the roads in this country!