New Jersey Ranks Top in U.S. for Traffic Congestion, 104 Hours of Delays Each Year

New Jersey is ranked No. 1 in the nation for traffic jams. Drivers spend nearly 104 hours stuck in traffic annually. Idyllic Pursuit conducted a study examining 14 states plagued by the worst traffic woes.

Massachusetts grabbed second place, then Delaware and New York filled out the top four positions. Illinois snagged fifth.

The Garden State's streets and highways suffer from a crushing capacity crisis that worsens daily.

Monmouth County harbors some of the state's most nightmarish bottlenecks. Route 33 in Farmingdale tops the problem list — a single car crawling at 30 mph triggers backups stretching for miles. Route 66 and Asbury Avenue in Neptune trap drivers in constant stop-and-go traffic from Asbury Circle all the way to the Garden State Parkway.

Route 36 in West Long Branch chokes with gridlock. So does Route 9 in Freehold. The Asbury Circle earned its reputation as one of Monmouth County's most infamous trouble spots.

Seven additional roads in Monmouth County desperately need widening, including Route 36 in Eatontown and Route 35 in Red Bank.

The state's crushing population density fuels this crisis. Vehicles jam roads far past what engineers designed them to handle.