Opinion: Weekend Shore Traffic in NJ Not What it Used to Be

After two holiday weekends of driving to and from the Jersey Shore at peak times, some have noticed it wasn't that horrible.

On both the Memorial Day weekend and the Fourth of July weekend, we have noticed that traffic was pretty good going down on a Friday afternoon and coming back on Monday, July 4 late in the afternoon and evening. This picture was taken Monday evening on the AC Expressway, normally packed at a time like that.

It made us wonder what is going on. The shore towns sure are crowded enough on weekends, especially this past July 4. Parking was scarce and the beaches, bars, and restaurants were packed. Ask anybody who lives at the shore and they'll tell you their town is as busy if not busier than in recent memory. Businesses that survived the lockdowns of the pandemic are doing well if they can find employees, and are as swamped as ever.

So why is traffic not as crazy as it seems it would be, especially on the South Jersey roads leading to the shore? It could be that more people are working remotely and able to get to the shore whenever they want. Maybe they get down there a day or two earlier. Hotels, motels, and Airbnbs are pretty full.

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If you live more than 45 minutes from your favorite beach town as many of us do, you probably have a couple of alternative "back roads" to make your way to the shore. I've got at least four ways to get to the Parkway. From there it's a scramble to reach any number of barrier island shore towns. Looks like we can stay on the main roads to the beach this summer if this trend continues. After a couple of challenging summers, we can all use a break.