Late in the evening on Tuesday, January 26th, a dump truck hauling snow to Observer Highway as part of the snow removal operation hit and damaged the traffic signal at Observer Highway and Willow Avenue. As a result of the damage, the signal timing sequence was affected, leading to very frequent red lights along Observer Highway, causing significant traffic congestion issues in southern Hoboken since Wednesday. A second repair attempt this morning was successful, and the signal is now functioning properly. During the three weeks prior to the damage to the signal, there had been no observed deterioration in traffic conditions due to the roadway reconfiguration.
As a precaution, the Hoboken Police Department will be stationed at Observer Highway and Willow Avenue during morning and evening rush hour periods to monitor traffic conditions and direct traffic if needed.
Progress has proceeded on the installation and activation of the new traffic signals. Power is on to all control boxes, however due to the blizzard and damage to the new signal from the dump truck, the timing for the activation has been slightly delayed. It is currently expected that the new signals will be activated in approximately 2 weeks, following 3 days when the signals will be set to a flashing mode.
