heavy traffic vs heavy traffic congestion

Examples:

• I was late to work because of heavy traffic on the highway.
• During rush hour, there is always heavy traffic in the city center.
• The bridge was closed, causing heavy traffic in the surrounding area.
• We encountered heavy traffic on our road trip.
• The event attracted so many people that there was heavy traffic around the venue.

Alternatives:

• dense traffic
• thick traffic
• busy traffic
• congested traffic
• gridlocked traffic

Examples:

• The accident caused heavy traffic congestion on the highway.
• Construction work led to heavy traffic congestion in the downtown area.
• There was heavy traffic congestion at the intersection due to a malfunctioning traffic light.
• The festival resulted in heavy traffic congestion in the neighborhood.
• The snowstorm created heavy traffic congestion on the main roads.

Alternatives:

• severe traffic congestion
• intense traffic congestion
• significant traffic congestion
• extreme traffic congestion
• major traffic congestion