After 19 years the NJ Turnpike Authority has a sudden change of heart and ripped American Flags from the bridges. Robbinsville PBA releases statement. Protest held in Searen, NJ Woodbridge Township over removed flags
See updates to MidJersey.News story here:
American Flags Replaced On NJ Turnpike Overpasses In Robbinsville By Police Union
Governor Murphy Directs Turnpike Authority To Stop Removing American Flags, Senator O’Scanlon and Assemblywoman DiMaso Sponsor Legislation To Keep American Flags On Overpasses
UPDATE Robbinsville Township PBA is hosting a replace the flags event at 12 noon September 11, 2020 see link below. The NJ Turnpike Authority has been removing flags placed and replaced on bridges by the local PBA
https://facebook.com/events/s/replacing-american-flags/597290697826772/?ti=as
September 6, 2020
ROBBINSVILLE, NJ (MERCER)- WOODBRIDGE – SEWAREN, NJ (MIDDLESEX)–The New Jersey Turnpike Authority has removed American Flags from bridges along the highway recently. The flags were replaced with signage that reads, “Placement of signage or items of any nature on this structure is strictly prohibited.” Many American Flags have been placed on bridges after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. Many people including veterans, police and other organizations have been maintaining these flags on bridges since the attacks.
After 19 years the NJ Turnpike Authority has a sudden change of heart and ripped American Flags from the bridges citing a “distraction”
Statement by the NJ Turnpike Authority on the flags:
Turnpike Authority Statement on Posting of Flags, Posters, and Signs on Turnpike and Parkway Bridges:The New Jersey Turnpike Authority appreciates and applauds patriotism. We try to express patriotism ourselves every day by maintaining dozens of American flags at properties in our right of way — office buildings, toll plazas, service areas, maintenance facilities, State Police buildings, warehouses. Those flags are treated with the utmost respect by Turnpike Authority personnel. They are flown on suitable staffs. They are illuminated at night. They are lowered to half-staff when the state is in mourning. They are removed, properly destroyed, and promptly replaced when they become faded or worn and are no longer suitable symbols of our national ideals.
The long-standing policy of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority has been to prohibit the display of any flags, signs, or banners by private parties on Turnpike Authority property. While we appreciate the desire of some New Jersey residents to express their patriotism in these turbulent times by displaying flags on Turnpike and Parkway overpasses, Turnpike Authority regulations do not allow it, and for good reason. The Turnpike and Parkway run through more than 100 municipalities and include more than 1,100 bridges and other structures. The NJTA cannot adequately monitor flags mounted by private citizens to make sure they are safely and securely hung, properly displayed, and respectfully maintained. While we hope that everyone who wants to display the American flag finds a suitable location to do so, we believe that limiting the flags displayed on Turnpike Authority property to ones hung and maintained by Turnpike Authority staff is the best way to assure that all flags in the Turnpike and Parkway right of way are treated with the respect they deserve.