Drivers headed into New York City faced hour-long delays at least after a tractor-trailer overturned near the Lincoln Tunnel in New Jersey Wednesday, snarling traffic as the peak of the morning commute got underway.
The roadway's New Jersey-bound lanes were detoured for hours after the tractor-trailer overturned at the helix on New Jersey route 495 at about 6 a.m., according to 511NJ and the Port Authority.
The tunnel's westbound lanes reopened at about 9:30 a.m., hours after the roadway closed to all traffic except buses leaving the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
New York-bound traffic in the tunnel, meanwhile, was delayed by about 15 minutes due to the crash. Earlier in the morning, delays topped 1 hour.
Later Wednesday, a man had a panic attack in the tunnel's center New York-bound tube, abandoned his vehicle and walked out of the tunnel on the New Jersey side, authorities said. Delays topped 80 minutes at about 10:45 a.m. The center tube was shut down as authorities investigated; it reopened shortly before 11:30 a.m. Drivers were advised to expect residual delays.
Between both issues, the Lincoln Tunnel had closures for about five hours Wednesday morning.
