An overturned, fully engulfed dump truck closed the New Jersey Turnpike in North Jersey which may stay shut for most of the afternoon.
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Police say the fire may have weakened gas and power lines that run under the overpass, as well as the structure itself.
There was no word on whether the driver was injured.
A fatal truck accident on the New Jersey Turnpike in Linden has closed the highway for 16 miles.
“There was a motor vehicle stop by a trooper in the right lane, and per the Move Over law, you either have to drop down below the speed limit or move over”, Williams said.
Linden Police Capt. James Sarnicki said the incident caused electric wires to hang too low near the turnpike lanes beneath the Wood Avenue overpass and that PSEG was working to fix them.
The northbound truck lanes were briefly opened to “bleed out” traffic that was stuck at the scene of the fire, and were then reopened late Tuesday afternoon.
Turnpike Authority spokesman Tom Fenney says inspectors will determine whether the overpass is structurally safe.
The accident happened around 11 a.m.in the southbound lanes.
Dan Reiman, mayor of Carteret, New Jersey, tweeted that drivers should expect major delays coming off Exit 12 on the Turnpike in the wake of the incident.
“Everybody was out of their cars. It was very cordial”, said Anderegg, who was able to get out of the jam when police removed highway barriers to let her into a lane that had started moving.
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“That was a tremendous plus for us today to get this fire out quickly”, he said.
