A tractor-trailer rests on its side Thursday afternoon along Interstate 95 in Waterville. Stacey Wilbur photo
A driver traveling the wrong way Thursday afternoon on Interstate 95 southbound caused a tractor-trailer hauling potatoes to roll over into the median, forcing part of the highway in the Waterville-Fairfield area to be shut down for several hours.
The tractor-trailer wreck happened near mile marker 131, and that area of the interstate was still closed Thursday evening.
Randolph Gerry, 71, of Winslow was summonsed on charges of driving to endanger and operating the wrong way on a divided highway, according to Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
Police dispatchers began receiving calls at 12:21 p.m. Thursday about a white 2019 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck traveling north in the southbound lanes on I-95, near mile-marker 127 in Waterville.
Maine state troopers were responding to the calls when they received report that a tractor-trailer had crashed at mile marker 131, south in Fairfield, Moss said.
A tractor-trailer rests on its side Thursday afternoon along Interstate 95 in Waterville. Maine State Police photo
Investigators said that when the driver of the tractor-trailer saw the white pickup truck driving toward him in the passing lane, he swerved to avoid the truck and slammed on the brakes.
The tractor-trailer, which is registered to River View Transport out of Houlton, then rolled over in the median. The pickup truck continued northbound in the southbound lanes until turning around at mile marker 134 in Fairfield and traveling the correct way in the southbound lanes, police said.
The driver, whom officials later identified Gerry, left the interstate at Exit 133, where a Clinton police officer spotted the truck and was able to conduct a traffic stop without incident on Route 201, near the Purple Cow House of Pancakes at 6 Skowhegan Road in Fairfield.
“Officers say Gerry did not show any indications of impairment, and there are no known medical conditions at this time,” Moss wrote in a statement to the news media, adding that police were still investigating the incident Thursday evening.
Officials said crews had to unload the potatoes from the overturned tractor-trailer before uprighting it and towing it away. The passing lane on I-95 southbound in that area was expected to remain closed until the scene was cleared.
Moss said the Maine State Police Facebook page was expected to provide an update on when the lane had reopened to traffic.
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