Tractor Trailer Drops 42 Slabs of Granite on Route 17, Cops Say

A granite spill on Route 17 North in Mahwah was still being cleaned up nearly four hours after it happened, authorities told Patch Tuesday night.

According to Mahwah Captain Stuart Blank, a tractor-trailer driving on Route 17 from Bayonne dropped 42 slabs of granite from its bed near the intersection with Route 287 at about 4 p.m. Tuesday.

The truck’s “straps appear to have snapped because we found pieces [of them] all along the road,” Blank said. Bits of broken granite were also strewn across the highway, officials said.

Blank said it was “pretty miraculous” that none of the shattered granite pieces hit any other cars driving on the roadway at the time of the spill. The truck driver, who police said was a Canadian driver making his way to Route 287 at the time of the accident, was not injured, Blank said.

The spill closed two lanes of the highway and backed up traffic to the East Allendale Avenue exit, police said.

According to cops, the NJDOT and NJ State Police responded to the spill. The DOT cleaned up the spill, and was still cleaning up the shoulder of the highway at nearly 8 p.m., officials said.