Hamilton Township, NJ
News
Tolls Rise On These 7 Delaware River Bridges, Twice, Thanks To COVID-19 Tolls Rise On These 7 Delaware River Bridges, Twice, Thanks To COVID-19
Tolls Rise On These 7 Delaware River Bridges, Twice, Thanks To Covid-19 Underuse of Delaware River bridges during the past year's coronavirus pandemic is prompting officials to increase tolls for the first time in a decade. Tolls on the bridges operated by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission will increase on April 11 and again in 2024 after commissioners voted Monday to raise them for the first time in 10 years. Commissioners cited the decline in passenger car traffic and toll revenue caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the burden of maintaining 13 toll “free” bridges with revenue from the seven toll bridges. The commission approved the toll inc…

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by Jon Craig
Allentown, PA
Police & Fire
Lehigh Driver Charged After Pushing Woman's Car With 2 Kids Into I-78 Median Lehigh Driver Charged After Pushing Woman's Car With 2 Kids Into I-78 Median
Lehigh Driver Charged After Pushing Woman's Car With 2 Kids Into I-78 Median A 31-year-old Lehigh driver is facing aggravated assault charges after state police say he was yelling at drivers and even hit one woman's car, sending it into a concrete median on I-78 earlier this month, authorities said. Justin C. Mitman, who was jailed March 8 in unrelated DUI and trespassing incidents from the day before, was identified after Pennsylvania State Police released photos of the truck and details about the road rage incident, LehighValleyLive says citing Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin and police Capt. Joseph F. Sokolofski. The woman was putting gas into a silver…

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by Nicole Acosta
Allentown, PA
Police & Fire
ROAD RAGE: Angry Lehigh Driver Pushes Woman's Car Into I-78 Median ROAD RAGE: Angry Lehigh Driver Pushes Woman's Car Into I-78 Median
Road Rage: Angry Lehigh Driver Pushes Woman's Car Into I-78 Median Pennsylvania State Police are seeking the public's help identifying a Lehigh County driver who they say was yelling at drivers and even hit one woman's car, sending it into a concrete median on I-78 over the weekend. The woman was putting gas into a silver Toyota Prius when the man, operating a silver Toyota pickup truck, was driving around and yelling at customers in the Wawa parking lot on Schantz Road in Upper Macungie Township, around 2:45 p.m. Sunday, according to Trooper Nathan T. Branosky. Once the woman left Wawa, the man -- described as a skinny white male …

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by Nicole Acosta
Hamilton Township, NJ
News
TOLL HIKE? Brace For Higher NJ Bridge Tolls Across Delaware River TOLL HIKE? Brace For Higher NJ Bridge Tolls Across Delaware River
Toll Hike? Brace For Higher NJ Bridge Tolls Across Delaware River Drivers who cross any of the eight Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission’s spans between New Jersey and Pennsylvania face two proposed toll increases this year and in 2024, authorities said. The need to hike state bridge tolls is being blamed on lost revenue during the coronavirus pandemic. The proposed increase, announced Monday, would be implemented on April 3, if approved by the board of commissioners at a March 29 meeting. The proposed hike comes just a month after the bridge commission approved a 2021 budget that state officials boasted had no toll hike. The 2021 proposed increa…

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by Jon Craig
North Hunterdon, NJ
Police & Fire
3 Airlifted In Wrong-Way Hunterdon County Weekend Crash 3 Airlifted In Wrong-Way Hunterdon County Weekend Crash
3 Airlifted In Wrong-Way Hunterdon County Weekend Crash Three people were flown to the hospital with serious injuries following a wrong-way crash in Hunterdon County, authorities said. A 51-year-old woman from Bethlehem, PA, was headed east in the westbound lanes of I-78 near milepost 13.8 in Union Township when she sideswiped a pickup truck just before 2 a.m. Sunday, New Jersey State Police Trooper Alejandro Goez said. The woman -- behind the wheel of a Hyundai Sonata -- then a sedan head-on, throwing two passengers from the vehicle, Goez said. The passengers -- a 16-year-old boy and 25-year-old man both from Allentown, PA -- and the driv…

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by Cecilia Levine
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Livingston Man Dead After Car Crosses Over Median, Crashes On PA Highway, State Police Say Livingston Man Dead After Car Crosses Over Median, Crashes On PA Highway, State Police Say
Livingston Man Dead After Car Crosses Over Median, Crashes On PA Highway, State Police Say A Livingston man was killed in a Pennsylvania crash on I-78, authorities said. Leopold Bautista, 79, was traveling westbound in an Infiniti sedan when it crossed over the grassy center median and hit an eastbound Chrysler sedan in Lower Saucon Township around 11:45 a.m. Wednesday, Pennsylvania State Trooper Nathan Branosky said. Bautista was taken to St. Luke's Hospital (Bethlehem Campus), where he was pronounced dead nearly an hour later, the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office said. Bautista's death was ruled an accident, the cause being multiple blunt force injuries, the coroner's office sai…

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by Cecilia Levine
North Hunterdon, NJ
Police & Fire
Driver, 37, Killed Head-On By Truck That Crossed Barrier On I-78 In Hunterdon County, NJSP Says Driver, 37, Killed Head-On By Truck That Crossed Barrier On I-78 In Hunterdon County, NJSP Says
Driver, 37, Killed Head-On By Truck That Crossed Barrier On I-78 In Hunterdon County, Njsp Says A 37-year-old New Brunswick man was struck and killed by the driver of a pick-up truck who crossed over the concrete barrier of I-78 in Hunterdon County, authorities said. A Nissan Rogue was headed eastbound when a westbound Ford F-250  drove over the barrier and struck him in Bethlehem Township Wednesday evening, New Jersey State Police Trooper Alejandro Goez said. The trailer being towed by the pick-up became unhitched and overturned across the westbound lanes, according to the trooper. The Nissan driver, Asheesh Bhan, was killed in the 7 p.m. crash near west milepost 9.6, Goez said…

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by Cecilia Levine
North Hunterdon, NJ
Police & Fire
Driver, 37, Killed Head-On By Truck That Crossed Barrier On I-78 In Hunterdon County, NJSP Says Driver, 37, Killed Head-On By Truck That Crossed Barrier On I-78 In Hunterdon County, NJSP Says
Driver, 37, Killed Head-On By Truck That Crossed Barrier On I-78 In Hunterdon County, Njsp Says A 37-year-old New Brunswick man was struck and killed by the driver of a pick-up truck who crossed over the concrete barrier of I-78 in Hunterdon County, authorities said. A Nissan Rogue was headed eastbound when a westbound Ford F-250 drove over the barrier and struck him in Bethlehem Township Wednesday evening, New Jersey State Police Trooper Alejandro Goez said. The trailer being towed by the pick-up became unhitched and overturned across the westbound lanes, according to the trooper. The Nissan driver, Asheesh Bhan, was killed in the 7 p.m. crash near west milepost 9.6, Goez said.&nbs…

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by Cecilia Levine
Franklin Township, NJ
News
Bridges Along I-78 In Bedminster, Bridgewater To Be Replaced Bridges Along I-78 In Bedminster, Bridgewater To Be Replaced
Bridges Along I-78 In Bedminster, Bridgewater To Be Replaced The state Department of Transportation has begun work on replacing four bridges on I-78 in Bridgewater and Bedminster, a project that will take place in stages over the next three years in order to minimize traffic disruption, the agency said in a statement.  The bridges, which DOT said are in poor condition, carry traffic eastbound and westbound over Rt. 202/206 and over Washington Valley Road.  Beginning Monday and continuing weekdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., the right lane ad shoulder westbound near the bridges will be closed for milling and other work. When the work is completed…

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by Paul Milo
Franklin Township, NJ
Police & Fire
Wrong-Way Bedminster Crash Leaves 3 Bayonne Teens Critical Wrong-Way Bedminster Crash Leaves 3 Bayonne Teens Critical
Wrong-Way Bedminster Crash Leaves 3 Bayonne Teens Critical Three 18-year-olds from Bayonne were hospitalized in critical condition following a wrong-way crash in Central Jersey over the weekend, authorities said. A 2002 Toyota Corolla driven by one of them was speeding north on the southbound side of Rattlesnake Bridge Road near I-78 in Bedminster when it struck a concrete bridge abutment shortly before 4 p.m. Saturday, the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office and Bedminster police said. All three occupants had to be extricated, they said. Investigators were still trying to determine what happened and why. Anyone who might have witnessed the inci…

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by Paul Milo
Elizabeth, NJ
Police & Fire
Fatal Accident Closes Westbound I-78 In Clinton Fatal Accident Closes Westbound I-78 In Clinton
Fatal Accident Closes Westbound I-78 In Clinton The State Police are investigating a fatal traffic accident that occurred shortly before 9 a.m. on I-78 in Hunterdon County Friday.  A car slammed into the back of a truck near mile marker 18.3 in Clinton, State Police said. One person was killed.  The person was not immediately identified.  The westbound lanes in the area were still closed as of about 10:45 a.m., State Police confirmed.  There was an earlier accident in roughly the same area, at around 4 a.m., when a truck overturned. 

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by Paul Milo
Jersey City, NJ
Police & Fire
Trucker Charged In Crash That Killed Jersey City Couple Headed To Own Wedding Trucker Charged In Crash That Killed Jersey City Couple Headed To Own Wedding
Trucker Charged In Crash That Killed Jersey City Couple Headed To Own Wedding Authorities say a truck driver from California was on his cell phone when he caused a chain-reaction crash on I-78 last year that claimed the lives of a couple headed to their wedding in western Pennsylvania, the Reading (Pa.) Eagle reported Wednesday. Jaspreet S. Chanal, 24, of Fresno, was charged this week with homicide by vehicle, careless driving resulting in death and other offenses. Chanal was traveling on I-78 near Windsor, Pa., on Nov. 14 when he passed signs advising motorists of road work ahead, according to authorities. Because he was distracted, Chahal crashed into the back of …

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by Paul Milo