A tractor-trailer crashed into mudflats off Interstate 295 in Portland on Thursday morning after a winter storm created slick roads ahead of the morning commute.
The Maine State Police planned to temporarily close the southbound lanes of I-295 at 9 p.m. to allow crews to remove the big rig, according to Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety. Traffic will be diverted near Exit 10 for two to three hours.
The tractor-trailer, driven by 34-year-old Henry Kabeta of Huntsville, Alabama, was traveling southbound on a snow-covered I-295 about 6:45 a.m. when the big rig crashed through guardrails into mud flats off the highway, McCausland said.
A tractor trailer went off of I-295 southbound in Portland. No injuries but the morning commute has slowed considerably. pic.twitter.com/Lhu1yzGYaH
— CBS 13 News (@WGME) February 21, 2019
Kabeta was not injured in the crash, McCausland said.
The tractor-trailer came to a rest in an upright position, and the trailer portion of the truck was empty at the time of the crash, McCausland said.
It was one among several crashes reported Thursday morning as a winter storm exited the state.
Crashes were reported on the Maine Turnpike in Wells, between southbound Exits 25 and 19, and on I-295 in Falmouth, near southbound Exit 11, according to the Maine Turnpike Authority.
The speed limit was reduced to 45 mph along the Maine Turnpike on Thursday morning.