http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--fowledtraffic0915sep15,0,6190622,print.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire
Chickens don't quite cross bridge; fowl traffic
September 15, 2004, 11:32 AM EDT
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ELIZABETH, N.J. (AP) _ A truckload of loose chickens "fowled" traffic on the Goethals Bridge on Wednesday morning, forcing police officers and maintenance workers to chase down the squawking birds with nets and backing up traffic for miles.
"Chicken is high in protein, low in fat and causes minor delays when served on the Goethals Bridge," quipped Tony Ciavolella, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the bridge.
At about 5:45 a.m., a flatbed trailer loaded with crates of live chickens was heading over the bridge toward Staten Island when one of the crates collapsed under the weight of others stacked atop it.
That caused an undetermined number of crates to topple onto the roadway, spilling 50 to 75 birds onto the pavement. Some of the birds were killed, while others flapped away and had to be corralled in the narrow roadway.
"They had officers out there grabbing these things," Ciavolella said. "They actually did a pretty good job."
The truck, owned by Raab & Levit, Inc. of Westville Borough, was headed for Brooklyn.
The bridge was closed for 40 minutes, and traffic was diverted to the Outerbridge Crossing and Bayonne Bridge. Lengthy backups were reported on the New Jersey Turnpike, which closed the exit ramp at Interchange 13 while the birds were being rounded up.
Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press
