Crime & Safety
Lacey Road Lane Closed For Overpass Repair From Backhoe Crash
Repairs to the overpass from where a backhoe hit it and got knocked off its trailer may take several months, officials said.
LACEY, NJ — A backhoe that got knockedoff a trailer a week ago caused damage to the Lacey Road overpass across the Garden State Parkway and has forced authorities to close one lane.
Lacey Township officials said the New Jersey Turnpike Authority told them a beam on the northbound side of the overpass was damaged enough that it has to be replaced, a project that could take several months. An estimate of the cost of the repair was not immediately available from the Turnpike Authority.
The beam is the northernmost beam on that portion of the overpass bridge, on the westbound lane of Lacey Road.
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To accommodate the work, westbound traffic on Lacey Road has been shifted to one of the eastbound lanes, while the other eastbound lane will continue to carry eastbound traffic.
Concrete construction barriers were put in place overnight Wednesday into Thursday to provide protection for workers from George Harms Contracting to work on the beam.
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"The Turnpike Authority has placed a 'crash truck' on Lacey Road at the parkway overpass to better secure the area," Lacey officials said.
The Dec. 19 crash sent Joseph Triano, 82, and his wife, Arlene Triano, 78, both of Roselle Park, to Community Medical Center in Toms River with minor injuries after their Toyota Camry was hit by the backhoe after it got kn0cked off its trailer as it was being towed by a Ford pickup truck.
This is not the first time the Lacey overpass has been hit. In 2008 an improperly loaded car crusher did significant damage when it hit the southbound side of overpass. The Turnpike Authority had to put in a temporary span for Lacey Road traffic and spent more than $5.6 million repairing the bridge. It later recovered $4.3 million from the trucking company.
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