A sinkhole suddenly
formed on the Garden State Parkway during today’s morning rush and
quickly became a hidden trap door that flattened tires, bent rims and
frayed nerves.
The 6-foot wide, 4-foot long hole was caused by an underground drain pipe that separated, weakening the road above it, officials said.
The sinkhole was several feet deep and caused damage to the vehicles of 18 unsuspecting drivers on the southbound Parkway leading to the Alfred E. Driscoll Bridge — requiring 15 of the vehicles to be towed, officials said.
Feeney said there were no significant delays related to the sinkhole in the morning. Temporary repairs to the deep rut were completed at 4:40 p.m., after eight-mile delays were reported. The far right lanes were reopened along that stretch of the Parkway in Woodbridge but residual delays continued through the evening.
"There is a 15-inch drain pipe under the roadway and it separated — it didn’t collapse, it pulled apart," said Tom Feeney, spokesman for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, which runs the Parkway and Turnpike. "Then the earth filled the void where the pipe separated and it weakened the road surface above it."
Permanent repairs will require fixing the pipe in the coming weeks, he said.
Travelers on the southbound Turnpike who planned to connect to the Parkway at Exit 11 were advised to head one exit south to Exit 10 and take Route 440 to the Parkway.
The car-crunching sinkhole was reported by drivers just after 6 a.m.
Sal DeFilippo of Toms River was heading home from work when he noticed seven or eight cars on the shoulder of the Parkway, with their blinkers on.
"The next thing you know, bang! You’re in that hole," he said. "I just fell in line with the rest of them."
Both tires on the left side of his red Hyundai sedan were blown and both rims on that side ruined.
"It was a rude awakening, that’s for sure," said DeFilippo, who had his car towed away.
Eighteen drivers, including DeFilippo, discovered the highway rut the hard way as they approached the bridge.
The majority of the cars ended up with flat tires from the impact, and pulled over to the shoulder in a long line ending on the bridge, said Sgt. Adam Grossman of the New Jersey State Police.
Motorists with damaged vehicles from potholes, construction mishaps, windshield damage or snow plows can file damage claims with the Department of Treasury’s risk management division, said Tim Greeley, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.
But Bill Quinn, a Treasury spokesman, said damage claims from Parkway potholes would be handled by the Turnpike Authority.
Ironically, the sinkhole formed just hours after the Reason Foundation released a report showing that roads and bridges in New Jersey — and most of the rest of the nation — had improved over a 20-year period.
The 6-foot wide, 4-foot long hole was caused by an underground drain pipe that separated, weakening the road above it, officials said.
The sinkhole was several feet deep and caused damage to the vehicles of 18 unsuspecting drivers on the southbound Parkway leading to the Alfred E. Driscoll Bridge — requiring 15 of the vehicles to be towed, officials said.
Feeney said there were no significant delays related to the sinkhole in the morning. Temporary repairs to the deep rut were completed at 4:40 p.m., after eight-mile delays were reported. The far right lanes were reopened along that stretch of the Parkway in Woodbridge but residual delays continued through the evening.
"There is a 15-inch drain pipe under the roadway and it separated — it didn’t collapse, it pulled apart," said Tom Feeney, spokesman for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, which runs the Parkway and Turnpike. "Then the earth filled the void where the pipe separated and it weakened the road surface above it."
Permanent repairs will require fixing the pipe in the coming weeks, he said.
Travelers on the southbound Turnpike who planned to connect to the Parkway at Exit 11 were advised to head one exit south to Exit 10 and take Route 440 to the Parkway.
The car-crunching sinkhole was reported by drivers just after 6 a.m.
Sal DeFilippo of Toms River was heading home from work when he noticed seven or eight cars on the shoulder of the Parkway, with their blinkers on.
"The next thing you know, bang! You’re in that hole," he said. "I just fell in line with the rest of them."
Both tires on the left side of his red Hyundai sedan were blown and both rims on that side ruined.
"It was a rude awakening, that’s for sure," said DeFilippo, who had his car towed away.
Eighteen drivers, including DeFilippo, discovered the highway rut the hard way as they approached the bridge.
The majority of the cars ended up with flat tires from the impact, and pulled over to the shoulder in a long line ending on the bridge, said Sgt. Adam Grossman of the New Jersey State Police.
Motorists with damaged vehicles from potholes, construction mishaps, windshield damage or snow plows can file damage claims with the Department of Treasury’s risk management division, said Tim Greeley, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.
But Bill Quinn, a Treasury spokesman, said damage claims from Parkway potholes would be handled by the Turnpike Authority.
Ironically, the sinkhole formed just hours after the Reason Foundation released a report showing that roads and bridges in New Jersey — and most of the rest of the nation — had improved over a 20-year period.
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