HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – The fiery crash that closed Interstate 95 in Bridgeport exposed the vulnerability of an aging and overburdened transportation network in Connecticut, which is the gateway – or chokepoint – for all of New England.

“This is a transportation crisis. Our main artery has been severed,” said Moira Lyons, D-Stamford, the speaker of the state House of Representatives. “The accident and its aftermath illustrate Connecticut’s desperate need for mass transit options for commuters and alternatives for freight service.”

Commuters along the I-95 corridor were left with few alternatives Friday.

Metro-North Railroad braced for more riders and the possibility that portions of I-95 will be closed for weeks. But the crowded commuter line is recovering from breakdowns that plagued its aging fleet this winter, and already had every available car in operation.

“If necessary we will have some express trains make some local stops,” said Dan Brucker, Metro-North spokesman.

Metro-North is encouraging new customers to use the trains during off-peak times and has asked Amtrak to stop at some stations along the New Haven line and pick up its customers in the event of extreme overcrowding, Brucker said.

“They have graciously agreed to do so,” Brucker said.

Officials also were hoping to expand Shoreline East, the train service that operates east of New Haven.

Ferry services added additional trips from New London and Bridgeport to take people and vehicles across Long Island Sound.

The closure of the highway could be even more disruptive than the collapse of the Mianus River Bridge in Greenwich in 1983. Traffic has increased substantially in the past two decades, said state Sen. William Nickerson, R-Greenwich.

“What this shows is this thin and delicate strand of pavement is what Connecticut’s economy hangs on,” Nickerson said. “The collapse of the bridge will be an exclamation point to tell us how vital it is to get on with the business of building a diversified transportation system that is less I-95-reliant.”

Truckers and travelers were struggling to find alternative routes.

A spokesman for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority said drivers making the long trip to New England could avoid Connecticut entirely.

“I feel for the people up there – my God,” authority spokesman Joe Orlando said Friday. “I shudder at the thought of what that could do if it happened here.”

Near the crash scene, southbound traffic was detoured to Route 25 and the Merritt Parkway, a historic highway that is closed to commercial truck traffic. Trucks trying to use the Merritt were being stopped by police and sent to Route 8 and Interstate 84.

Northbound cars and trucks were being rerouted through the streets of Bridgeport and Fairfield and back onto I-95.

Bob Cirelli, manager of Travel Centers of America, a truck stop on I-84 in Southington, said he saw about 25 percent more traffic Friday.

Anthony Smith, 34, delivers water from Maine to New York City and said the alternate route will add about two hours to his trip. He said he’s not paid for out-of-route mileage.

“It’s less time driving and more time sitting around in traffic,” he said. “And it’s more mileage that we are just not getting paid for.”

Roland Bellavance, president of Bellavance Trucking in Barre, Vt., said his company has 15 trucks running along I-95 every week. He said I-84 is busy enough already.

“I hate to see what’ll happen when you add the traffic from I-95,” he said.

At the New England Truck Stop in Sturbridge, Mass., where the Massachusetts Turnpike feeds into I-84, some truckers were plotting alternate routes to the New York area.

“I turned on the TV at the motel this morning and knew I’d have to figure something out,” said Mark Jones, 45, of Fancy Gap, Va.

Jones had dropped off a delivery of Corvettes in Boston and was on his way to Newark, N.J., to pick up another load of cars bound for the Carolinas. He guessed that avoiding I-95 by taking I-84 to I-684 would add about two hours to his day.

“If I don’t make it there by the time they close at 4, I’ll be stuck in New Jersey until Monday morning,” Jones said.

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Associated Press writers Laura Walsh and Susan Haigh in Hartford, Evan Berland in Trenton, N.J., Tim McCahill in Montpelier, Vt., and Adam Gorlick in Springfield, Mass., contributed to this report.

AP-ES-03-26-04 1808EST