75 car accidents on Friday
Winter weather takes its toll
on local roads
Edison police log
75 car accidents on Friday
JERRY WOLKOWITZ staff Tom Catuosco, Whippany, braves the snow to wave to potential customers of a store on Raritan Center Parkway on Friday morning.
BY MAURA DOWGIN & MATT AUERBACH
Staff Writers
This weekend’s winter weather created traffic gridlock throughout much of the local area.
The area was hit with about 20 inches of snow, according to the National Climatic Data Center. About 15 inches of snow fell on Friday, and about 5 inches fell on Saturday.
There was increased traffic all over the township in the mid to late afternoon as a result of the snow and ice, said Lt. Matthew Freeman, spokesman for the Edison Police Department.
The increased traffic started around 4 p.m. on Friday, he said.
People leaving work in Raritan Center had a problem because of icy off-ramps onto Woodbridge Avenue, he said.
Tractor-trailers had a hard time maneuvering onto Woodbridge Avenue because of ice on the on-ramps from the Raritan Center Parkway, he said. The entire intersection was shut down during rush hour, so that salters and plows could come and help the trucks get onto Woodbridge Avenue.
"As of 4 p.m. on Friday, there were 75 accidents," Freeman said.
There was no specific area where the accidents happened, he said. There were accidents on side streets as well as on major highways, such as routes 1 and 27.
No pedestrians were hit by cars during the storm, he said.
There were some minor injuries, which resulted from the fender benders. No major injuries were reported, according to Freeman.
Saturday was calmer in the township, he said. There was far less gridlock and fewer accidents.
"A lot of people stayed in on Saturday," Freeman said.
As for the cost of the cleanup, the township was still collecting data from the snowstorm as of Monday, officials said.
Information on the number of plows, amount of salt used, number of employees who worked overtime, and overall cost to the township had not been calculated as of press time on Monday afternoon, according to the mayor’s office.
"We got through the two storms very well, considering how much snow was dumped on us," said Metuchen Mayor Ed O’Brien.
"When there’s six or more inches, it usually takes us 24 hours to clean things up. We had the roads cleared in significantly less time.
"Let’s just say we learned from last year," he said.
When asked about the cost of the cleanup, O’Brien ventured an estimate.
"We won’t know until the end of the month," he said. "We have to tally up how much fuel and salt were used, as well as how much overtime had to be paid out. I’d say the cost will be anywhere from [$6,000 to $10,000]."