the.com/gridlock

means A total traffic standstill where vehicles jam every direction at once, so no one can move even when their light turns green.

from Coined in the 1970s–80s from 'grid' (the crisscross pattern of city streets) plus 'lock,' as in locked in place. It first described a specific nightmare scenario: every intersection in a grid of streets clogged simultaneously, so cars block the cross-traffic that would normally let them inch forward. New York City traffic planners popularized the term for this literal condition before it spread into general use for any total standstill, traffic or otherwise.