“When it’s really bad, it just sits,” one driver complained, about a two-lane stretch of Route 17 where traffic bottlenecks often bring vehicles to a standstill. Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco says emergency responders sometimes can’t get through the crush of cars. And the jams block commercial traffic. So he’s working to refresh 10-year-old engineering plans to widen and improve Route 17’s two-lane bottleneck with some $870,000 from the state.
It would add an extra lane north and southbound between the Garden State Mall and Essex Street, replace several antiquated bridges and construct or upgrade access ramps. Bergen County would also have to acquire some properties along the right of way, to make room for the wider highway. The price tag and start date are unknown, but the county is soliciting public input, at this website.
