Traffic expectation Route 46 Hackettstown to Clifton
Hello- I'm thinking of moving to Hackettstown and am spooked by hearing about traffic on 80. What is traffic flow like on 46 between Hackettstown and Clifton?
Bill Cahill 
Calico696 I don't think there are any shortcuts but you may need some "longcuts" for grid lock days. Doable but strenuous. Better be one fine habitat you're looking at. I did NYC for years, New Providence for decades so I am in the "it's worth it camp"
strangerdanger Going 46 all the way would add 45 mins on a good day just with all the lights on it. The backup in Dover, Rockaway, and through Mountain Lakes adds on to that. And then you get to 46/3 which is going to be the same from 80 anyway. Route 46 only makes it worse.
Route 80 on average days is actually not as horrible as it seems apart from the two main 80/15 & 80/287 junctions. So long as you can get an hour or two from the standard 9-5 its doable if you're only going to Clifton and not further. Doing 8-4 or 10-6 will give you a much different pattern.
GC 
LJRubi 
Bug3I drive it every single day.
If you leave Hackettstown before or at the very least BY 6am, or after 8:30am and get out of Clifton before 3:00pm its a 45 minute drive
Other times 1 hour-2 hours drive depending
If you cannot get out of Clifton by 3:30 at the absolute latest, might as well wait until 6:30pm
forget 46
Darrin I commute to Passaic ever day and the commute is beyond horrible. If I leave at 6am, I can make it down there within about 45 minutes to an hour. Mornings are not AS bad as the commute home, in my opinion. Traffic has been horrible from the Ledgewood Exit (Exit 28) until 287/280 split off. Then you hit the lovely Paterson traffic on 80 (if that is the route you go). This is ALL pending no accidents, which on average there are 2 accidents each morning..usually by Parsippany or Denville.
Coming home- 1 1/2-2 hours, no accidents. Solid bumper to bumper in particular around 287 all the way through Mt. Olive. Denville and Rockaway are the worst.
46 will have its own issues with traffic, lights, and people trying to get on there if there were any accidents on 80. I HATE this commute with a passion and I am trying to find a closer job truthfully.
sunshinenj Maybe I'm crazy but I don't mind the commute on 80 with or without traffic. I live in Panther Valley (just outside of Hackettstown) and I travel for work as close as Paramus, and as far as Westchester NY. If you leave by 6am, your looking at 45minutes-hour down route 80. And leaving clifton your fine up to 4-430. It will take about an 1 hour or 1 15 minutes from that point on depending on traffic.
I used to live in Bloomfield for 27 years and moving up here over a year ago I wouldnt look back even with the commute.
PsychoNetsFan leaving clifton your fine up to 4-430.
not sure about that, rush hour seems to start anytime after 3 p.m. these days. it can be hit or miss
Scottso I agree scottso, rush "hour" begins by three - I have done the commute for many years, but am able to either do an early time shift or late time shift - go in early (leave by 5:30 and head home by 2:30) or late (go in after 8:30 and come home well after evening rush, sometimes as late as 10 or 11) - AND I have negotiated one day a week work from home - this makes it all doable - otherwise, the commute during typical rush is an enormous, unpredictable time waste, so anytime I am driving in to work or home, I listen to audio books, am learning a second language from CD and listen to lectures that I couldn't hear in person- helps a lot. For our family, the trade off of living in this beautiful area and having my kid grow up here as opposed to closer to the city has really been worth it, and I have been extremely lucky to have a position that gives me tremendous flexibility.
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