Where Is This Daily New Bedford Traffic Coming From?

I've been driving in and around the City of New Bedford for decades. There have always been the usual spots for traffic backups.  Places like the intersection of Route 6 and Route 140 near Buttonwood Park and the Kings Highway exit from 140 are tricky.

Usually, however, on the main highways such as I-195, you didn't have to expect much in the way of traffic unless there was a weather-related issue or an accident.  Most of the time drivers were free and clear from Fairhaven, through New Bedford and into Dartmouth and beyond.

Recently, that trend has started to change. I first started noticing a regular shift in traffic back around the holidays. That's when I started seeing the Fairhaven onramp to 195 start backing up in the late afternoon for no apparent reason.

As time went on, more and more I'd notice brake lights and crawling speeds in the teens and single digits trying to make it by Coggeshall Street. The brake lights would snake up the hill and into Dartmouth.  This has evolved into a near-daily experience.  Expect delays if you're traveling on 195 westbound from 4 until about 6. Yes, I realize that is rush hour time, but it was only a few short years ago that 195 seemed unaffected by rush hour.

Why? Where has all of this traffic come from? I have been attending Crossfit Dartmouth afternoon classes for 10 years. Until a couple of years ago, I knew exactly how long it would take to get from my house to the gym. Lately, however, you never know what you're going to run into on that New Bedford/Dartmouth (and sometimes even Fairhaven) stretch.

READ MORE: New Bedford's Most Dangerous Intersections

The most puzzling part of these traffic jams is that nothing seems to be the cause.  There's no accident to clear. There's no debris in the road. Nothing.

Manageable, predictable traffic used to be a huge benefit to living in the SouthCoast.  Unfortunately, those days may be in the past.