Light snow slicks roads, causes crashes

Light snow that piled up on roads made for slick driving and low visibility Monday, especially in Oxford County.

Snow started falling during Monday’s morning commute, around 9 a.m. in central Maine. The snow dropped visibility to below half a mile at times, according to the National Weather Service.

The minor storm ended by 5 p.m., with accumulation of up to 3 inches, according to the NWS.

Rural areas saw a number of people injured in crashes in which vehicles rolled over or slid off the road. Rollovers were reported on Route 26 in Oxford, and at the intersection of Greenwood Road and Route 219 in Greenwood where a vehicle flipped upside down and went in the water.

The two occupants got themselves out of the vehicle and declined treatment, officials said.

Another rollover happened in Woodstock, a single vehicle on Rocky Road. A woman reported injury and Bethel Rescue was dispatched. No details were available on a rollover near Halls Pond off Route 119 in Paris.

Two accidents were reported in Canton, including a van that rolled over on Canton Point Road, according to the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office.

Because the van was carrying welding supplies, the Rumford and Canton fire departments were called as a precaution, said Cpl. Andrew Whitney.

Numerous crashes occurred on the Maine Turnpike. At about 11 a.m. a vehicle slid off the highway into a ditch at Mile 62 in Gray.

At 12:53 p.m. a second crash in the Gray area occurred at Mile 60. Not long after that in Biddeford a tractor-trailer and a vehicle were involved in a crash.

After 4 p.m. a crash at Mile 72 near Auburn blocked the left northbound lane. Motorists were being advised to be prepared to expect delays.

There were no reports of serious injuries or fatalities, according to Maine State Police.

Monday was the first time this season the speed on the entire length of the turnpike was reduced to 45 mph, said turnpike spokeswoman Eric Courtney. Turnpike trucks were plowing, salting and sanding.

“It always seems like with the first storm people haven’t adjusted to the weather yet,” Courtney said. “It seems like the first storm of the year there are lots of crashes.” People haven’t yet learned to slow down, she said.

In Lewiston, the plow trucks were called out for the first time this season.

“We thought we were going to get away with just sanding, but it’s starting to pile up out there,” Lewiston Public Works Director David Jones said just before 3 p.m.

“Trucks are going to stay away from the shoulders to try to avoid digging up grass,” Jones said, adding that the ground was not yet frozen.

There were reports of a few minor crashes in Lewiston-Auburn. “There are some slick spots out there,” Jones said.

Auburn Public Works Director Dan Goyette said his crews had been out salting. “We’re having good results,” he said. “The roads are in pretty good shape.”

As of the early afternoon, Auburn Deputy Chief Jason Moen said there had only been one accident.

: Elizabeth, 8, right, and her sister, Grace, 5, giggle as they watch the snow fall outside the window of Community Dental on Main Street in Lewiston on Monday. Their mother asked that their last name not be published.

: Tenesha Allison clears her car of snow before heading to her son’s school in Lewiston on Monday. “Not at all,” she said, when asked if she enjoyed seeing it snow.

: Jess Paquette walks along Lisbon Street as she runs errands in downtown Lewiston on Monday morning.

: Dick Powers stocks his wood box with firewood at his home on Shepley Street in Auburn on Monday. “Quite a bit different than yesterday,” Powers said. “I was bicycling around the lake Sunday.”

Send questions/comments to the editors.

filed under:

snow, weather

Sign In: