Roll-Off Truck, School Bus Crash On Route 37; No Students On Bus: PD

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Route 37 is closed in both directions until further notice at Bananier Drive/ Romana Lane on Friday afternoon due to a motor vehicle crash that happened just before noon, the Ocean County Sheriff's Office said.

A roll-off truck and a school bus were involved in the crash, which brought down utility poles and wires, said Jillian Messina, media relations specialist for the Toms River Police Department.

There were no children on the bus at the time of the crash, Messina said. The bus driver was taken to Community Medical Center with minor injuries from the crash, she said.

Power was knocked out to more than 130 area homes and businesses, according to the First Energy outage website.

Photos shared on social media show at least one transformer down and a liquid leaking from it. The state Department of Transportation website said a spill was being cleaned up as a result of the crash.

In addition, a second crash on Route 37 west of Oak Ridge Parkway temporarily added to the snarl, the sheriff's department said.

There are detours in place because of the crash at Romana Lane, which becomes Bananier when it crosses Route 37 south.

Eastbound traffic is being detoured onto St. Catherine Boulevard and westbound traffic being detoured at Oak Ridge Parkway, according to the sheriff's alert.

There are delays of 10 to 15 minutes in each direction, according to the NJDOT website 511nj.org, though motorists said the delays are at least 40 minutes in the area.