Second Semi Crashes in Newark in Two Years

A semi truck crashed into a bridge in Newark just before three this afternoon, leaving the truck hanging over the side of the bridge.

It’s the second accident on the bridge of Cherry Valley Road in Licking County. Although Newark Police Sgt. Barry Connell says the road is a truck route with relatively few accidents, two in two years is a cause of concern.

“It’s a concern for us,” said Connell. “It’s one of the things we have our technical to accident investigators looking at the case. We do have our city engineer here checking out the bridge. They’ll look into what may have been the cause of the factors.”

Today’s accident happened at an interesting time, right as the city of Newark was processioning to bury one of their own.

“Newark city was burying a firefighter today,” said Brandon Reece of the Granville Township Fire Department. “So there were several departments from out of town that were helping cover it. They all stepped up and helped out.”

The Licking County Hazmat Team is working to contain a diesel fuel leak along with the EPA. The Newark Police Department along with several area fire departments responded.

At this time Cherry Valley Road is closed between Reddington and Granville roads. The driver only suffered minor injuries and was taken to Licking Mmemorial Hospital as a precaution.

In 2007, another semi crashed on the same bridge. That one was carrying diesel fuel, which exploded. The driver was killed on impact.