‘Serious crash’ shuts part of Turnpike truck lanes

A portion of the northbound truck lanes of the New Jersey Turnpike was closed at the start of the Tuesday morning commute because of a "serious crash" while a second crash created big delays in the inner lanes near Route 18.

The road was closed early in the commute between Exit 6 for the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Exit 8 for Route 33, with all traffic forced to the inner lanes. The outer lanes were still closed as of 6:45 a.m., creating a multi-mile delay.

Video footage by CBS 2 New York showed a section of guardrail between the inner and outer lanes as having been removed.

State Police at the Cranbury station described the overnight crash as "serious," involving at least one tractor trailer. There was at least one fatality, according to a tweet by State Police.

Routes 1and 130 picked up alternative traffic from drivers trying to avoid the Turnpike.

A later crash in the inner lanes approaching exit 9 for Route 18 involved a Honda Civic that rear ended a tractor trailer and slid underneath along with a possible fire creating another multi mile delay. State Police said the driver was already out of the car by the time troopers arrived at the crash scene.

The crash was cleared shortly after 7 a.m.

There was also a crash on the Turnpike north of Exit 5, involving a vehicle that went off the road but was pushed off to the shoulder

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