Freeholder Candidates Call for Probe Into GWB Lane Closures

Three Democratic Bergen County Freeholder candidates are asking state elected officials to investigate why the Port Authority closed two of three lanes from Fort Lee to the George Washington Bridge, a move that snarled local traffic and surprised borough officials.

The Port Authority has said it closed the two lanes Sept. 9 while evaluating a new traffic pattern, but not offered any details on the change. The bi-state agency reopened the lanes after an order from Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye, who privately said the traffic change posed a public safety risk and should have been advertised, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing an agency unnamed source.

Fort Lee police and elected officials weren’t given a heads up on the Port Authority’s plan and didn’t receive an explanation until Sept. 13, according to an NJ.com report. 

"If the Port Authority is unwilling to even answer phone calls from the mayor of Fort Lee and the police department, then my running mates and I have no choice but to ask our state representatives to bring them before a committee hearing for an explanation under oath,” Freeholder candidate Chris Tully said in a statement, the site reported.

Tully, Jim Tedesco and Lorraine Waldes will face Republican incumbent freeholders Maura DeNicola, John Mitchell and John Felice in November.