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Instead of allowing all vehicles to enter the station at once, Palisades Interstate Parkway police have set up a single file line along the shoulders of the highway. Sign tells motorists: “Gas right, pass left.”
CLIFFVIEW PILOT PHOTO: Orderly lines at PIP gas station in Englewood Cliffs
Once a pump opens, the attendant waves to an officer, who lets the next car in.
It works — except when someone in line runs out of gas (PHOTO ABOVE: Officer Gregory Kimbro Jr. and Detective Raymond Walter push a disabled car to the pumps. COURTESY: PIP Police Department).
“If you don’t regulate the entrance, all the cars jam things up,” PIP Lt. Michael Coppola told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. “Cars will pull onto the wrong side of their gas tanks and then they have to move. This way, that doesn’t happen. And nobody can cut the line.”
Things have been moving smoothly at the two stations just north of the George Washington Bridge since 7:30 this morning, Coppola said — and this with four tankers on the way.
It’s also been that way at the Woodcliff Lake rest stop on the Garden State Parkway, near Exit 171, where the line of traffic stretched an estimated four miles this morning. State troopers have been maintaining order.
Local stations have to depend on local police , who are already stretched thin by continuing emergencies in the wake of the storm.
“We’ve had to manage the chaos to the best of our ability,” Saddle Brook Police Chief Robert Kugler told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
And although no serious incidents have been reported in the area, there already has been at least one arrest, which followed a fight in Clifton, and another unconfirmed report of someone pulling a gun. Kugler said he was concerned that the mounting frustration — desperation — could ignite more incidents.
Like many of his counterparts, the chief assigned officers to keep the peace along busy Market Street, which has had not only long line of cars waiting for gas but swelling traffic and inoperable traffic lights.
NOTE: Doctors and nurses in Bergen County who need emergency fuel supplies can go to:
Lodi DOT
Gregg St., one block off Rt. 17
Open 24 Hrs
Unleaded / Diesel
(201)845-6564
Ramsey DOT
15 Arrow Road
Unleaded – 7:45 am to 3:45 pm
Diesel – Non-Automated
(201) 825-1076
Delta Gas on Market near Westminister Place in Saddle Brook turned off the pumps yesterday afternoon after running out – and that was with rationing: Officials asked the owners to limit purchases to $40 each.
CLIFFVIEW PILOT PHOTO: A Saddle Brook police officer directing a long line of cars on eastbound Market Street stretching from the Delta gas station to the Elmwood Park border
Barges loaded with fuel have been arriving along the coast the past 24 hours or so, and deliveries are expected tomorrow. But that doesn’t help those stations that are closed because their power is still out – and might not be back until late next week.
Only one of every four stations was operating as of late yesterday, according to Sal Risalvato, executive director of the N.J. Gasoline C-Store Automotive Association.
Customers are reporting waits of up to four hours. Others have been seen pushing their vehicles into stations. Many stations are only taking cash.
Just after midnight, the line at a Delta Gas in Montvale was more than 80 cars long (see photo), quashing the idea that going for gas overnight would be easier.
Not everyone holding a container was getting generator fuel, Kugler said.
“Not wanting to sit in the lines stretching from town to town, they brought hand-held containers and poured the gas into their cars themselves,” the chief said.
In Elmwood Park, officials said they were concerned that the one open gas station was inundated with Paterson residents – although they didn’t say how they were able to make the distinction.
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