LEWISTON – A Turner man escaped injury but a city park was damaged Wednesday morning when a tractor-trailer plowed into the western gateway at Lincoln and Main streets.
Police were not sure what caused 55-year-old Robert White to steer his rig into a brick wall at Laurier T. Raymond Jr. Park.
It happened at 11:15 a.m. White was heading into Lewiston over Longley Bridge when he drove through a red light, failed to negotiate a curve and drove into the small park, according to a witness.
“He didn’t stop. He didn’t turn. He just kept going right into the park,” said 27-year-old Megan Griffey, who witnessed the crash and called for help on her cell phone.
Griffey said she rushed over to the truck as it rested in a pile of debris.
“At first, I couldn’t see the driver in there,” she said. “Then his head popped up and he got out of the truck. He was completely disoriented. He was standing in a pile of bricks. The wall was wrecked. It was crazy.”
White was hauling a full load of pallets when he crashed, police said. The rig first mowed over a group of street signs and a traffic pole on the median strip. Then it bounced into the park, where it brushed a fountain and crashed through the brick wall.
“We’re very lucky no one got hurt,” said Lewiston Police Lt. Michael McGonagle. “It’s a major intersection. There could have been vehicles stopped there.”
The amount of damage to the park fixtures was not immediately known. The front end of Whites truck was extensively damaged. He was taken to a hospital, examined and released, police said.
Witnesses said the light at Main and Lincoln streets was solid red when White drove through it and into the park. Police were investigating the possibility that a medical condition may have been a contributing factor.
The corner where the truck crashed was formerly home to a pizza shop and a tattoo parlor. The city purchased the property and began beautifying it as the western gateway to Lewiston. Repairs to the park were expected to begin immediately.
In recent days, the lights at Main and Lincoln street have been blinking, red for Lincoln Street traffic, yellow for drivers on Main Street. That problem was repaired before the crash, but police said traffic control lights are expected to be down again as a result of damage to one of the poles.
“Drivers going through that area might want to expect delays,” said police Sgt. David St. Pierre.
Until the traffic lights are fixed, stop signs will likely be posted at the intersection and officers will be sent out to direct traffic during busy hours of the day.
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