UPDATED STORY: State Fixed Traffic Light at Routes 35 and 88

A state Department of Transportation crew fixed a traffic light late Wednesday night, which enabled police to reopen the left lane of Route 35 South by 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, police said.

The DOT had worked for hours on Wednesday to repair a traffic light that had power cut when a car smashed into a nearby utility pole earlier in the day, said a department spokesman.

No injuries were reported in the two-car accident that involved one of the cars smashing into a Verizon utility pole on Route 35 South near the entrance to Route 88 West in Point Beach on Wednesday morning, police said.

Two cars had been driving southbound on Route 35 when one hit the other, causing it to veer into the pole at 10:51 a.m., said Corporal Marc Distelcamp.

That left the pole down and a traffic light not working at routes 35 South and 88 East.

Police had been directing traffic for hours at the busy intersection before the light was fixed.

Kaitlin McGowan, Howell, was either switching from the right lane into the left lane, or attempting to turn left into a driveway entering Burger King, when she struck a pick-up truck driven by Michael Sabo of Point Pleasant Borough, said Distelcamp.

"She hit him, pushing his car into the pole," Distelcamp said. "A tow truck had to pull his car off the bottom of the pole, but then he was able to drive his car away."

McGowan's Ford Focus had damage to the front wheel and fender and had to be towed, Distelcamp said. A friend picked up McGowan, he added.

There were no passengers in the two cars, he said.

The pole that was struck is owned and operated by Verizon, but is also attached to electrical lines, said State Police Sgt. Thomas Rasmussen, who was monitoring the scene because routes 35 and 88 are state highways.

It did not appear that nearby residents and businesses were without electrical power or phone service, he said.

However, there had been a brief electrical outage when the car struck the pole, said Jean Wiley, of Kiely Equipment Co. LLC, which was at the scene assisting Verizon.

Kiely and Verizon had been near the scene before the accident occurred because Verizon had been doing other work slightly further south on Route 35.

Wiley said she had been in the McDonald's on Route 35 when the car struck the pole.

"I was just about to pay and all of a sudden the lights went out and everybody freaked out," she said. "But in five minutes, maybe less, the power went back on."

George Daley, Wiley's co-worker, said he wasn't quite close enough to see the accident, but he heard the transformer hit the ground when the car smashed into the pole.

Jersey Central Power and Light and Verizon crews were making repairs at the scene.

No charges have been filed. The local fire department and first aid squad also responded to the scene.