The George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, N.J. topped the list of the most congested locations for truck freight, according to analysis from the American Transportation Research Institute. 

The perennial first place holder is usually Chicago’s Circle Interchange, but construction on the George Washington Bridge in late in 2013 pushed Fort Lee to the top of the list for the period ATRI was collecting data. The George Washington Bridge was also famously part of a scandal commonly known as “Bridgegate” where New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s staff was accused of deliberately creating traffic jams in the area in September 2013.

ATRI looked at data collected from its truck GPS database and came up with a Total Freight Congestion Value based on the information from a particular area, comparing the free flow speed of the road to the average truck speed in the area at peak and non-peak times. It also measured this data against the volume of trucks in the area by hour.

By combining the average hourly speeds and volume of trucks in a 24-hour period, ATRI was able determined which places were the most congested. By using the data collected by ATRI, transportation planners can address the biggest problem areas.

“ATRI’s identification of congestion impacts at freight significant locations is a critical tool in the transportation planning toolbox,” said Matt Hart, president of the Illinois Trucking Association and an ATRI committee member. “Better informed decisions mean more targeted infrastructure investment at critical freight nodes.”

The usual winner, the Circle Interchange in Chicago, came in second followed by Interstate 285 at Interstate 85 in Atlanta, Ga.

ATRI’s  top ten most congested truck freight locations include:

1. Fort Lee, N.J.: I-95 AT SR 4

2. Chicago, Ill.: I-290 AT I-90/I-94

3. Atlanta, Ga.: I-285 AT I-85 (NORTH)

4. Cincinnati, Ohio: I-71 AT I-75

5. Houston, Texas: I-45 AT US 59

6. Houston, Texas: I-610 AT US 290

7. St. Louis, Mo.: I-70 AT I-64 (WEST)

8. Los Angeles, Calif.: SR 60 AT SR 57

9. Louisville, Ky.: I-65 AT I-64/I-71

10. Austin, Texas: I-35

To read the full report, click here.