LEWISTON — A truck plowed into a utility pole on Lisbon Street on Thursday afternoon, snapping it in half and bringing down wires.

The wreck occurred in front of the Sherwin-Williams paint store, a short distance from the intersection with Scribner Boulevard.

The crash brought half of the pole down onto the windshield of the GMC pickup, which witnesses say was headed toward downtown when the driver lost control.

“There was this big crunch,” said Jenna Bickford, who lives nearby. “Then the driver got out of the truck, swearing.”

“We didn’t hear any brakes or anything,” said Matthew Sirois, who also lives near the crash scene. “Just a big smash.”

The driver of the truck, whose name was not immediately available, walked across Lisbon Street and sat on a curb, awaiting police and fire crews. He did not appear to be injured, according to witnesses.

Police blocked a section of Lisbon Street to traffic, rerouting commuter hour motorists onto side streets between Pleasant and Lisbon streets. The closure resulted in traffic snarls on numerous streets, including Avalon and Irwin streets, as drivers tried to wend their way to Pleasant Street.

When the pole snapped in half, several lines came down with it, but power was not lost at Sherwin-Williams. Firefighters secured the scene while waiting for assistance from Central Maine Power.

Repairs were expected to continue into Thursday night.


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