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A host of emergency services units converged at the Lindwood Avenue overpass following the crash, which occurred just before 8:30 a.m.
The southbound highway was reopened at 11:20 a.m.
This came after the soil — which authorities said isn’t hazardous — was loaded onto another truck from Hillside-based AMV trucking.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: A second crash occurred on Route 17 in Ho-Ho-Kus around noon. The highway was briefly closed. It was closed again around 3 o’clock this afternoon following a three-car collision.)
Ridgewood firefighters and a crew from The Valley Hospital responded for the driver, who pushed out a window and climbed from the cab before walking to the ambulance. He sustained an apparent hand injury, Ridgewood Police Chief John Ward said.
“The truck was entering onto Route 17 from Linwood Avenue heading south,” Ward told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. “The dump was up and he was just starting to get up to speed when it hit the underpass, knocking the truck onto its side.
Village police, EMS and DPW were also at the scene, as were the county Hazardous Materials Unit and the state DEP because of what Ward described as “non-harzardous petroleum-contaminated” soil.
The truck was righted and the soil offloaded into a container while authorities awaited the second AMW truck.
The state DOT was inspecting the Linwood Avenue overpass, although emergency workers on scene said it didn’t appear to sustain much damage.
Local area roads around the closed, backed-up highway were jammed, as well. Meanwhile, rubberneckers thickened traffic on the northbound side.
BOYD A. LOVING took the photos for this story
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