Route 42 reopened after morning jam

DEPTFORD, N.J. - May 29, 2008 (WPVI) -- It was a big crash, that made the morning commute a lesson in patience for many drivers.

It happened right where Routes 42, 55, 76, and 295 all come together.

And it's a place where thousands of drivers pass thru- on their way to work each day.

Back to normal tonight in the northbound lanes of the freeway...but it was one awful morning for motorists using the highway.

At 8:10 a.m., right smack in the middle of the rush hour, the northbound traffic on the North-South freeway came to a grinding halt. An open-topped tractor trailer carrying a load of scrap metal failed to clear the Browning Road overpass on the freeway in Bellmawr. It cut through a water pipe under the overpass sending water and debris onto the roadway.

"It's a possibility that the truck height was too high for the overpass, or the load itself could have been too high," said New Jersey State Police trooper Rodrick Jones.

In either case the trucking company, Longhorn Transport of Newark, New Jersey is responsible and could be cited once the investigation is complete. Debris from the accident damaged vehicles but there were no injuries. Frayed nerves were another story. For hours motorists sat in a seven-mile jam from the Atlantic City Expressway to Interstate 295. NJDot says there was some minor damage to the overpass. It will be repaired in the overnight hours and the ruptured water pipe will also be replaced in off-peak hours.

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traffic, cathy gandolfo

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