PORTLAND — Interstate 295 in Portland is reopened after it was shut down in both directions Friday morning because of utility lines that fell across the roadway.

State police say the lines fell after an excavator struck a utility pole at a construction site near the highway at about 1 a.m. Friday. No one was hurt.

The incident took place between the Congress Street and Forest Avenue exits. The Maine Department of Transportation reported traffic was restored shortly before 7 a.m.

15 vehicles involved in I-295 crash Thursday afternoon rain

By Dawn Gagnon, Bangor Daily News

A microburst appears to be the cause of six motor vehicle crashes involving 15 vehicles on Interstate 295, a Maine State Police dispatcher said late Thursday afternoon.

The accidents began piling up shortly before 4 p.m., with most occurring in the stretch between Portland and Falmouth, the dispatcher said.

Trooper Larry Rose of the Maine State Police said he responded to three accidents in the Cumberland area and that another trooper handled three more on the stretch of I-295 running from Portland to Falmouth.

Three of the crashes involved three vehicles and the other three involved two vehicles, he said.

He said that none of the accidents resulted in serious injury. He said heavy rain was the cause.

The accidents led to delays but traffic was flowing freely again by about 5:15 p.m.

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