By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
MONTGOMERY — Bedens Brook Road, between Planter’s Row and Gaitway Drive, has been closed to motorists until further notice after the bridge was struck by a delivery truck shortly after 3 p.m. June 8, according to the Montgomery Township Police Department.
When police arrived at the scene, they discovered that a Crystal Springs water delivery truck, driven by 23-year-old Marguese Perkins of Philadelphia, had struck the stone wall along the westbound lane of the Bedens Brook Road bridge. It is maintained by Somerset County.
Mr. Perkins told police he had made a local delivery and was traveling west on Bedens Brook Road when he took his eyes off the road as he rolled down his window. That’s when the truck hit the bridge, damaging the stone wall and guardrail along the westbound lane.
A Somerset County engineer went to the scene and determined that the bridge needed to be closed for repairs and further inspection, police said. The bridge has a posted weight limit of 6 tons, or 12,000 pounds. The delivery truck that Mr. Perkins was driving weighed more than 26,000 pounds.
Mr. Perkins, who was not injured in the accident, was issued summonses for careless driving and operating an overweight vehicle on an intrastate bridge. The truck suffered heavy damage to the passenger tire, front end and passenger side, and it was towed from the scene.
