Congested highways on Black Friday cause problems on I-41

Shoppers looking to get some Black Friday deals Friday, November 24, 2023, may have been expecting to wait in lines, but one they likely didn’t expect to be sitting in was on the highway.

With Appleton being a popular shopping destination, I-41 northbound north of Oshkosh was already congested, but a crash near Prospect Avenue in northern Winnebago County caused a back up, and then 3 more crashes occurred as secondary crashes due to the slowed and stopped traffic caused by the initial crash.

No injuries were known to have occurred as a result of the crashes which occurred between noon and 12:30 PM, but traffic was slowed and stopped in the area for several miles.

On the north side of the mall at the Wisconsin Avenue exit, there were no crashes, but the volume of people exiting had a line of cars extending the length of the off ramp,
and onto a lane of traffic of 41 southbound.

Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving and traditionally marks the start of the Christmas shopping season with many stores advertising deeply discounted items. It’s considered the busiest shopping day of the year.