Fatal overnight Parkway crash impacts morning commute

WOODBRIDGE — An overnight fatal crash on the Garden State Parkway, in the final hours of the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend, had an impact on the Monday morning commute.

Two lanes on the southbound Parkway were closed near the Colonia service area as State Police investigated a crash and road crews made necessary repairs to the roadway. A northbound rubbernecking delay also developed.

Two vehicles were involved in the crash around 1:30 a.m. including one that went off the highway and into the woods, according to State Police spokesman SFC Jeff Flynn who did not disclose which vehicle the deceased was in or the circumstances of the crash.

Two southbound lanes were closed for an investigation during Monday morning commute which created a 10 mile delay. The lanes were reopened around 9 a.m.

A fatal hit and run fatal crash Sunday on Route 295 northbound in Mount Laurel, just after 6 p.m., closed two of three lanes, according to Flynn. 9-year-old Madelynn Rizzo from Union was killed after her father’s Ford Focus collided with another vehicle in the center lane and went off the highway.

The other vehicle involved in the crash did not remain on the scene but State Police did not yet release a description of the other vehicle.

Her father, Marcelo Rizzo, 37, of Elizabeth, suffered head injuries while his 8-year-old daughter Juliana from Union was seriously injuried.

The Delaware Memorial Bridge, which was closed around 5 p.m. on Sunday night in both directions due to a chemical gas leak at the Croda Atlas Point production plant along the northbound span, reopened to traffic around 11:30 p.m. Sunday.

The leaked chemical was ethylene oxide, a highly flammable gas that is a finished product stemming from methanol, according to Holloway Terrace Fire Company spokesman George Greenley.

"If that flume would have had an ignition source, it could have been catastrophic with the bridge traffic," Greenley said.

The closure created delays in Delaware due to drivers using Routes 95 and 495 to head north into Pennsylvania, to cross the Delaware River on the Commodore Barry Bridge.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ.

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