I'm really interested in the mechanics of the Bridge Jam.

[rgbecker]

Has anyone read any reporting on how the Jam was achieved? How did Wildstein's or Baroni's (SP) requests get carried out and without police being notified? Any interviews with Port Authority workers? Is it standard practice to simply close down lanes at one man's request at the PA?

Have there already been hearings about this that I missed?

Thanks for your help.

I've googled a bit, but most of the reports are very general in nature....Wildstein just said do it and it was done? Hard to believe the PA is run that way.

[babylonsister]

1. I was astounded to learn that, despite the

texts, e-mails, phone calls, etc., from the Ft. Lee mayor to the Port Authority, for 3 days no one responded to him. Sounds like the PA is, or was, run that way.

[ramapo]

2. Simple

Your point about a PA investigation, especially who, is very valid.

The actual mechanics are simple. PA boss (Christie guy) sends the message down the food chain to close a couple of lanes for hypothetical traffic study. No need to involve PA police. Some worker-bee gets sent out to set out the traffic cones. It probably took 15 minutes.

It was really two of three access lanes to the bridge from the local Ft Lee roads that were closed. The bridge itself was not affected. The local roads are such that it doesn't take much to cause a problem. While most of the bridge traffic comes via major highways, the local traffic is significant.

Port Authority does all kinds of wacky stuff. One of the best is 'saving' money by closing the cash-only tollbooths overnight on one level of the bridge. This created chaos for drivers who did not notice the signs requiring they go to the other level if they needed to pay cash. When these poor souls got to the tolls, many had no clue what to do next.

[LibertyLover]

4. Very true -

access to the GW Bridge from local streets by locals (I was one for many years) is a larger portion of the day-to-day traffic than one would think. Any closures on those access lanes from whatever cause - breakdown, accident, closure for real repairs or bogus traffic studies - screws things up quickly and badly.

[TheOther95Percent]

3. This article gives you some of the players including the actual cone mover

A police officer whose last name is apparently something like Licorice.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/10/nyregion/clues-but-no-full-account-of-order-that-turned-a-new-jersey-town-into-a-parking-lot.html