Overturned truck spills milk onto Turnpike, creates big delays

ELIZABETH — A tractor trailer that overturned on the New Jersey Turnpike had an impact on the early part of the Wednesday morning commute.

State Police said the truck spilled its load of milk onto the outer lanes just north of Exit 13 for the Goethals Bridge in Elizabeth and was engulfed in flames just before 2 a.m. It was the only vehicle involved in the crash, according to police.

State Police said the driver of the truck, Cristian G. Vergara, 23 of Englewood, died in the crash.

Vehicles involved in the investigation and cleanup were taking up lanes in both the inner and outer lanes, creating multi-mile northbound delays. All lanes in both the inner and outer lanes were reopened around 8 a.m. but delays persisted as a lane was blocked for guard rail repair.

The lane closures sent commuters to the Parkway, Routes 1 & 9 and Route 440 to avoid the delay.

NJ Transit and other buses that travel that area of the Turnpike were also delayed, according to New Jersey Fast Traffic's Bob Williams.

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

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