LINDEN, NJ
Drivers were stuck on the New Jersey Turnpike here for hours Tuesday after a dump truck overturned and became engulfed in flames under the Wood Avenue bridge, killing one person in the truck.
The fire fried nearby high-tension wires, cutting power to the businesses across the bridge in the industrial area and stranding workers after the bridge was closed.
Drivers seeking alternate routes created traffic delays on other roadways throughout the area, including Routes 1 and 9 and the Garden State Parkway.
The identity of the person who died in the truck has not been released by the New Jersey State Police.
For Mayor Derek Armstead, the havoc created by the one-vehicle crash has renewed the need for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority to fund the city’s long-awaited access road.
Since 1998, the city has been trying to get a Turnpike extension road to the Tremley Point section of the city to keep trucks off South Wood Avenue and open about 400 acres of brownfield development. The access road over the Rahway River from Carteret is expected to cost $144 million.
Goodman Birtcher, a reinvestment trust company headquartered in Australia, has plans to build 2.7 million square feet of warehouse space in five buildings on the 143-acre former GAF property. The project is expected to bring many jobs to the area.
There also are other redevelopment plans for property in the area.
Armstead said the city had received approval for the access road, but the funding was diverted to a South Jersey project and now there is no money left for the Linden project.
“All our approvals expire in 2015,” said Armstead, adding that if the funds are not available, the approval process would have to start over.
If the access road had been available Tuesday, it could have been used to assist drivers around the crash scene.
Armstead said the city “most definitely” plans to bring up the issue at the next Turnpike Authority meeting.
“We should come to the next meeting and lobby for the extension,” he said. “I don’t know if they will listen.”
The meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Aug. 25 in the board room at the Mack Cali building, 581 Main St., Woodbridge, according to Thomas Feeney, New Jersey Turnpike Authority spokesman.
Linden
Deputy Fire Chief Michael Hreha, the incident commander, said the dump
truck overturned and became engulfed in flames around 10:30 a.m. between
two overpasses — the Wood Avenue bridge leading to the industrial
businesses in the Tremley Point section and a Turnpike overpass for
emergency vehicles. Linden Police Capt. James Sarnicki said the Turnpike
overpass is private road not equipped to handle trucks.
Between the two overpasses are high-tension power lines and a high-pressure gas line. Hreha said the gas line was never compromised, but the power lines burned, resulting in a power outage in the area.
Hreha said the traffic was shut down for so long because he had to make sure the dangling power lines were inactive before he could send in crews. Hreha said he didn’t get confirmation from PSE&G that the lines were dead until sometime between 2 and 3 p.m.
The South Wood Avenue bridge was reopened in both directions around 2:30 p.m., but it was expected to take several hours to restore power to the area.
Hreha said firefighters left the scene around 5:30 p.m. All lanes, northbound and southbound, were reopened to traffic and repairs completed about 10:20 p.m.
Drivers were stuck on the New Jersey Turnpike here for hours Tuesday after a dump truck overturned and became engulfed in flames under the Wood Avenue bridge, killing one person in the truck.
The fire fried nearby high-tension wires, cutting power to the businesses across the bridge in the industrial area and stranding workers after the bridge was closed.
Drivers seeking alternate routes created traffic delays on other roadways throughout the area, including Routes 1 and 9 and the Garden State Parkway.
The identity of the person who died in the truck has not been released by the New Jersey State Police.
For Mayor Derek Armstead, the havoc created by the one-vehicle crash has renewed the need for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority to fund the city’s long-awaited access road.
Since 1998, the city has been trying to get a Turnpike extension road to the Tremley Point section of the city to keep trucks off South Wood Avenue and open about 400 acres of brownfield development. The access road over the Rahway River from Carteret is expected to cost $144 million.
Goodman Birtcher, a reinvestment trust company headquartered in Australia, has plans to build 2.7 million square feet of warehouse space in five buildings on the 143-acre former GAF property. The project is expected to bring many jobs to the area.
Armstead said the city had received approval for the access road, but the funding was diverted to a South Jersey project and now there is no money left for the Linden project.
“All our approvals expire in 2015,” said Armstead, adding that if the funds are not available, the approval process would have to start over.
If the access road had been available Tuesday, it could have been used to assist drivers around the crash scene.
Armstead said the city “most definitely” plans to bring up the issue at the next Turnpike Authority meeting.
“We should come to the next meeting and lobby for the extension,” he said. “I don’t know if they will listen.”
The meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Aug. 25 in the board room at the Mack Cali building, 581 Main St., Woodbridge, according to Thomas Feeney, New Jersey Turnpike Authority spokesman.
Between the two overpasses are high-tension power lines and a high-pressure gas line. Hreha said the gas line was never compromised, but the power lines burned, resulting in a power outage in the area.
Hreha said the traffic was shut down for so long because he had to make sure the dangling power lines were inactive before he could send in crews. Hreha said he didn’t get confirmation from PSE&G that the lines were dead until sometime between 2 and 3 p.m.
The South Wood Avenue bridge was reopened in both directions around 2:30 p.m., but it was expected to take several hours to restore power to the area.
Hreha said firefighters left the scene around 5:30 p.m. All lanes, northbound and southbound, were reopened to traffic and repairs completed about 10:20 p.m.
