Route 208 Closed For Hours Tuesday Following Vehicle Crash: Police

FAIR LAWN, NJ — Two lanes and both sides of Route 208 were reopened Tuesday afternoon, hours after a van crashed into a utility pole on the southbound side the highway, causing live electrical wires to fall to the ground, police said.

A Ford van with a trailer carrying construction equipment was traveling on Route 208 South when the trailer began to "bounce back and forth" forcing the van off the highway and into a utility pole near McBride Avenue, police said. The crash caused the pole and live wires to fall to the roadway, blocking traffic.

Both occupants of the vehicle, a 23-year-old and a 60-year-old were taken to Valley Hospital in Ridgewood with non-life threatening injuries, police said.

Route 208 South before Maple Avenue is still closed as PSE&G workers were repairing the utility pole and power lines at 5 p.m., police said.

The crash caused significant backups in the area all day Tuesday, affecting traffic as far back as Route 4, Paramus Police stated.

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Photos courtesy of Andrew Sommerfeld and Dave Carota