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The Interstate 95 off-ramp at exit 6 in Stamford was partially closed for more than a half hour Wednesday morning after two sport utility vehicles collided and one rolled over, state police said.
The accident happened just after 9:40 a.m. and the scene was cleared about 40 minutes later, state police said.
No one was injured.
The Federal Express truck was pulling two trailers of parcels when the driver lost control shortly after 6 a.m. Wednesday, on the southbound side of I-95 near the Exit 5 ramp in Greenwich.
Assistant Fire Chief Tom Nixon said the driver was not injured and that a payloader was used to clean the roadway of damaged parcels. An 80-ton “rotator,” a specialized wrecker was used to pick up the cab of the truck and the portion of the first cab that was still attached, lift it over the guardrail and set it back onto its wheels, Nixon said.
Packages in the rear trailer were not affected, officials said. Fuel had to be drained from both of the truck’s saddle tanks before the operation to right it could begin. No fuel spilled onto the roadway. The fuel recovery was overseen by a New Haven contractor retained by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
The driver, Gary Herring of Lebanon, Pa. was charged with driving too fast for conditions, according to the state police accident report.
Nixon said Greenwich firefighters remained on the scene for four hours. The right lane remained open during the incident and the center lane was cleared at about 8 a.m. Traffic during the morning rush hour backed up nearly five miles, to the Stamford-Darien border, state Department of Transportation officials said.
Fortunately for those traveling on Interstate 95 Monday at rush hour, President Obama has alternative transportation to get him from Stamford to Westport.
The President, in Fairfield County for a pair of fundraisers, is expected to land in Stamford’s Kociuszko Park prior to a 4 p.m. fundraiser at the Stamford Marriott Hotel & Spa.
Stamford Police Chief Robert Nivakoff told The Advocate’s Kate King that some street closures are likely as the presidential motorcade travels from the South End to the hotel, which is downtown on Tresser Boulevard.
After the fundraiser, the motorcade will head back to Kociuszko Park. Obama will re-board Marine One for a short flight to Sherwood Island State Park in Westport before heading to a $38,500-per-head fundraiser at the home of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Obama’s use of Marine One to get from one fundraiser to another should prevent a full shutdown of I-95, though local roads in both Stamford and Westport will be impacted, and I-95 ramp closures are possible.
For updates on the president’s visit to Fairfield County and its ramifications on traffic, stay with BlogJam; go to the CT Politics blog; and follow the following on Twitter:
* Advocate staff writer Kate King
* Advocate staff writer Maggie Gordon
* Westport News staff writer Paul Schott
* Connecticut Post staff writer Brittany Lyte
* Hearst’s CT Politics account
* The #obamainct hasthag
With the morning commute in full swing, traffic is still at a standstill on Interstate 95 northbound in Fairfield after a tractor trailer carrying paper towels caught fire just after 3 a.m.
Two lanes on I-95 north were closed between exits 23 and 24 until about 6:30 a.m., and one — the right lane — remained closed after 8 a.m., further snarling traffic back toward the Westport town line.
The highway was fully re-opened at 8 a.m.
Fairfield Assistant Fire Chief Scott Bisson said the truck caught fire just after 3 a.m. between exits 23 and 24 on I-95 north.
Bisson said the truck is owned by Werner Enterprises in Omaha, Neb. and was coming from Allentown, Pa.
The driver of the truck was not injured in the blaze. Bisson said a Fairfield firefighter was evaluated for heat-related stress at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, but had been discharged by 8 a.m.
Stay with BlogJam and follow @connpost and @ffldcitizen on Twitter for updates throughout the morning.
State Police have cited the driver of a Dodge Durango in an early morning crash on I-95 in Bridgeport that backed up traffic for miles.
Timothy Hussey, 26, of East Haven was issued an infraction for making an unsafe lane change. Hussey cut off a Sysco Co. truck by moving from the right to the center lane, according to the accident report. When the truck driver attempted to avoid a collision, his vehicle jack-knifed, causing it to collide with Hussey’s SUV, police said.
Hussey lost control of his vehicle, striking the yellow impact barrier at the top of the Exit 27 ramp. The Dodge Durango then spun around and ended up in the right lane, the report states, while the tractor-trailer rolled onot its side against the shoulder barrier.
Hussey was transported to Bridgeport Hospital for treatment of possible neck and back injuries, and the driver of the Sysco truck, Israel Maldonado of East Hartford, was brought to St. Vincent’s Medical Center to be examined for possible injuries, police said.
A spokesman for the food service company, which has a depot in Rocky Hill and a corporate office in Houston, could not be reached for comment. A small amount of fuel spilled from the truck and was cleaned up by Bridgeport firefighters, officials said.
With only one lane open after the 6 a.m. accident, traffic was backed up on the southbound side of I-95 into Milford before the scene was cleared about two hours later.
Traffic on Interstate 95 southbound was backed up for about a half hour Wednesday morning after a one-car crash near the Bridgpeort-Stratford line, state police said.
State police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said a woman driving a Volvo was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries after the crash, which happened on Interstate 95 southbound between exits 30 and 29.
Vance said no information on the cause of the crash or the woman’s exact injuries was available later Wednesday morning.
The crash happened at 9:26 a.m. and prompted officials to close the right and center lanes of southbound traffic. Traffic was backed up several miles toward the Moses Wheeler Bridge while crews responded.
Traffic was at a near standstill back toward the Stratford line after a multi-car crash on Interstate 95 southbound in Bridgeport.
State police and the state Department of Transportation said the crash happened at about 6:50 a.m. The left lane was closed for about 50 minutes while paramedics treated one patient for minor injuries, state police said.
A state police dispatcher at Troop G in Bridgeport said it wasn’t clear how many cars were involved in the crash.
By 7:30 a.m., traffic was at a near standstill back toward exit 30 as emergency crews worked to clear the scene. The crash was cleared at about 7:40 a.m., but residual delays remained.
It wasn’t immediately clear Tuesday morning what caused the crash. Stay with BlogJam and follow @connpost on Twitter for updates.
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