HOLDEN, Maine — Snowy road conditions were a factor in a minivan rollover and subsequent tractor-trailer crash on Monday afternoon that shut down Kidder Hill Road for 10 hours and knocked power out in the neighborhood for nearly as long.
The rollover happened about 2 p.m., when Janice Bellaire, 70, of Clinton, who was traveling south on Kidder Hill Road, also known as Route 46, lost control of her 2014 Chrysler minivan on a snow-covered hill, according to Holden police Sgt. Eugene Fizell.
The minivan slid off the roadway along a ditch, struck a utility pole and then rolled onto its side in the middle of the roadway, Fizell said.
Bellaire, who was suspended in her seat by her seatbelt, was extricated by Holden fire and rescue personnel. Neither she nor her terrier puppy, which was riding with her, were seriously hurt, Fizell said, adding that Bellaire credited her seat belt and the vehicle’s air bags with preventing worse injury.
Fizell said that Bellaire was treated at the scene and did not require a trip to the hospital. Her minivan was demolished.
Just north of the crash scene, a tractor hauling a double trailer started down the same hill but upon seeing the wreckage, braked to a stop to avoid it. The tractor wound up going into a skid, sliding down the hill and then jack knifing and striking a utility before coming to a stop, Fizell said.
The utility pole did not break, and the tractor and trailers were pulled free by a wrecker and went on their way undamaged.
The road was closed for 10 hours and power was out in the area for nine hours, as Emera Maine, Time Warner Cable and Fairpoint repair workers restored service to the area.
Holden police Chief Chris Greeley is investigating the crash. He was assisted at the scene by personnel from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office, Fizell said. He said that the Maine Department of Transportation crews closed both ends of Route 46 and immediately treated the roadway once it was reopened.