SOUTH JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — New Jersey’s transportation commissioner will face questions Wednesday night as to how a retaining wall on I-295 in Bellmawr collapsed two weeks ago.
Local legislators organized the virtual meeting. Assemblyman Bill Moen wants answers as to why the wall fell on the unfinished stretch of Route 295 — and how big a setback this will be for the long-running $900 million project to connect Routes 295, 76 and 42.
The fifth-district Democrat, who serves on the Assembly transportation committee, said state Transportation Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti agreed to address the collapse in an online forum Wednesday night.
“It’s our understanding that the Department of Transportation is completing an investigation of what had occurred,” he said. “We’re not yet sure — and we hope — that their willingness to participate in a public meeting will result in more details from that investigation taking place.
“The most important thing here, I think at this moment, is to ensure that we’re able to get the answers to the questions that we have,” he added, “to figure out what needs to happen to fix this.”
Before the collapse, the project wasn’t expected to be finished until 2028. Since the March 25 collapse, drivers have endured slow traffic, with one right lane of northbound I-295 closed.
The Zoom forum begins at 6 p.m. The public can submit questions.