N.J. traffic stalled as chemical leak shuts bridge
PENNSVILLE, N.J. — A chemical leak shut down the Delaware Memorial Bridge in both directions yesterday evening, bringing traffic on a major East Coast artery to a standstill on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
The leak stems from a chemical production facility in Delaware, near the twin suspension bridges on a major route between Washington and New York City, the Delaware River and Bay Authority tweeted.
The bridge closed about 5 p.m. yesterday. Facility operators requested it be shut down, the authority tweeted. There is no timetable for when it will reopen.
The traffic on both sides was being diverted from the bridge to other crossings, including the Commodore Barry Bridge to the north, causing what the authority called a “parking lot” situation to disperse to other clogged roadways.
The bridge carries Interstate 295 on eight lanes over the wide southern reaches of the Delaware River between northern Delaware and southern New Jersey. Southbound traffic from the New Jersey Turnpike also flows across it. More than 80,000 vehicles make the crossing daily, according to the authority.
The Delaware Department of Transportation said the chemical facility causing the closure is on the Delaware side of the bridge. The state Division of Natural Resources and Environmental Control is on scene at the leak.