It's Brutal Route 80 Tie-Ups Add Hours to Trips
Pat R. Gilbert, Staff Writer

06/26/2001
The Record, Bergen County, NJ
All Editions: Two Star B; Two Star P; One Star B
A01
(Copyright 2001 North Jersey Media Group Inc.)

Infuriated drivers stymied by the closing of Route 80 in Morris County found themselves in a tangle of bumper-to-bumper traffic on Monday, and the state said it will be Wednesday before they will get even partial relief.

The state expects to open two of four lanes on the fire-damaged stretch of Route 80 west sometime Wednesday, but probably not in time for the morning commute. And it will be August at the earliest before all lanes are open on the four-mile stretch between Exit 38 in Denville and Exit 42 in Parsippany. That section of Route 80 has been closed since early Friday morning, when a tanker truck and two tractor-trailers collided, spilling gasoline on the highway. The resulting fire damaged support beams in a bridge, making it unsafe.

Tempers flared, trucks overheated, and motorists moved at tortoise- like speeds on Monday during the morning and afternoon rush hours as they approached Parsippany on Route 80 and navigated the detour routes: Route 46 westbound and Route 10 through Morris County.

Backups on Monday afternoon averaged three to four miles on Route 80, and up to eight miles on Route 46 in Denville. No one was having a good time. "This is unbelievable," said 52-year-old Tony Graziano, driving a Ryder truck from Brooklyn to Pennsylvania Monday evening. His total time on Route 80 so far: two hours and counting. "Next time, I'm just going to have to take a different route," he said as he inched toward Exit 43 before reaching the detour.

"It's brutal," said Jace Cashon, 35, a software developer from Little Falls who found himself stuck on Route 46 west Monday morning. He watched his normal 20-minute commute to Denville! balloon to more than an hour. "I took the detour to Route 46, but then it narrowed down to just one lane. Pretty soon I figured they'd just tell us to get out and walk."

Contractors worked around the clock to build a temporary two-lane bridge on the closed portion of Route 80. The span, which sits atop the 50-foot bridge that was damaged in Friday's fiery tanker accident, was finished about 2 a.m. Monday, said Mark Joosten, director of operations for the Acrow Corporation of America in Carlstadt.

That bridge will carry the 65,000 vehicles a day that travel on the four lanes of Route 80 westbound until the state builds a permanent replacement bridge.

Already, the price for the temporary bridge and the more than 10,000 tons of asphalt needed for the approaches to the temporary bridge totals $2 million, state officials said, and they estimated that it could cost an additional $1 million to $2 million for a permanent bridge.

"The state's going to pay for the temporary bridge and the cost of replacement," said state Department of Transportation spokesman Jim Berzok. "In the meantime, we'll pursue recouping the money from whichever parties are responsible. We'll find the money to pay for it."

Police said the investigation into the accident is continuing.

Paving contractors spent 12 hours Sunday morning grading the western approach to the temporary bridge, the deck of which is five feet higher than the damaged bridge. The job took 3,400 tons of asphalt.

At the site on Monday, a river of newly poured asphalt blistered the feet of construction crews, who used 24 dump trucks and an army of pavers to lay down 6,800 tons of asphalt for the eastern approach.

Officials said they could not give a more definite time when the temporary bridge would open on Wednesday because of the uncertainty of how long it would take the asphalt to cool and harden enough to support traffic. "It! 's 375 degrees, so we're in the cooling down process," said Chester Lyszczek, DOT's executive director for north region operations. "My best guess for opening the bridge is Wednesday due to the heat of the asphalt. It takes time for that, then to stripe it, then put in a median, and guide rails on the bridges and the approaches. There will also be rumble strips."

Asked if the two lanes could open by Wednesday morning, he replied, "I doubt it."

Even though two lanes will be open Wednesday, drivers should not expect normal conditions. Route 80 is, after all, notorious for its traffic jams, especially in Denville.

"We're hoping the trucks won't waste time to get to the secondary roads," said state police Lt. Col. Lee Cartwright, deputy superintendent of operations. "We're hoping they stay on Route 80. Motorists are going to have problems, and we'll manage it.

"When the two lanes are reopened, drivers will be funneled from four lanes to!  three, then to two over the temporary bridge, which will have a 40 mph speed limit. State police will be out in force at the site, as well as on Route 46.

For today, though, drivers can probably expect a repeat of Monday's delays. During Monday's evening rush, impatient drivers decided to use the shoulder near Exit 43, but that soon became jammed. Others frantically were making arrangements for their spouses to pick their children up from day care or were simply peeved.

"The trip usually takes 45 minutes and will now take 1 1/2 hours," said Jeff Ryder, 36, who was on his way from work in Bloomfield to his home in Rockaway on Route 80 Monday evening. "But you got to expect to deal with some of these things when you live in New Jersey, not that I'm happy about it."

David Youngblood of Newton in Sussex County was asked how much longer he thought he would be sitting on Route 80 in traffic. It had already been 40 minutes on his way home from Hackensack. "I'm about to run out of gas, so there's no telling how much longer," he replied. "I think I'm going to have to change my appointment schedule for the next month."
In fact, he may have to change his schedule for at least two months, and
maybe three or more.

State officials cannot say exactly when a new bridge, and all four lanes, will reopen because they are waiting for specialized concrete beams before they can start construction. They were hoping to get them within two weeks to a month.

"It's a very high priority for us to get this open," said Lyszczek. "These beams have to be manufactured. It's going to take time. Once we get the beams, it will take about four to six weeks to build, then four to six weeks to demolish the temporary bridge." If everything goes well, that could mean all lanes reopened in August. Asked for the worst-case scenario, he replied, "I don't even want to think about it.

"Neither did rivers or some business owners in downtown Denville, who said business was down about one-third because no one wanted to get off Route 46 to risk even more time on the road.

"We feel it's affected us," said Chuck Saskowitz, co-owner of Stewart's Root Beer in Denville. "Once they're in that line of traffic, they're not getting off to come here. The center of town is all jammed up.

"At one point during the Monday morning rush hour, about 7 a.m., the line of slow moving eastbound traffic stretched nearly 10 miles back from the spot in Denville where the bridge is being replaced. Most of the delay was from rubbernecking, with drivers slowing down to take a look across the median to the westbound lanes, where workers were busy with the temporary bridge. In the meantime, state police said the investigation into Friday's accident continues, with no summons issued. The accident left three drivers injured. Police identified the companies whose trucks were involved in the accident as J. Low Express in Jersey City; Richard Dahn Inc. of Lafayette, N.J., and Venco Leasing of Pennsylvania.

The driver of the tanker, James Laboo, 51, was in the intensive care unit of Morristown Memorial Hospital on Monday night.

Another driver, Leo Willette, 31, was discharged Monday from St. Clare's Hospital in Denville. The third driver, Walter Gardner Jr., 59, was treated at St. Clare's and released on Friday.

Staff Writers Jeff Page, Merry Firschein, and Elise Young contributed to this article. Staff Writer Pat R. Gilbert's e-mail address is gilbert@northjersey.com.