A tractor-trailer delivery truck slid through a snowy intersection Tuesday morning in Winter Harbor, taking out directional signs for local businesses and stopping a few feet from the water’s edge.
There were no injuries, but Winter Harbor Police Chief Danny Mitchell estimated that the damage caused by the mishap will cost several thousand dollars to repair.
“The front of the truck got pretty smacked up,” Mitchell said, adding that the truck also narrowly missed a fire hydrant right next to the sign. “You’re not going to buff that out.”
The crash happened as snow was falling before sunrise when the driver, 41-year-old William Parent of Bucksport, attempted to stop so he could turn left onto Main Street from Newman Street. Mitchell said he wasn’t sure where Parent, who was making a delivery for Hamilton Marine, was headed.
Parent applied the truck’s brakes at the T-shaped intersection, but the road was slick and he slid straight across Main Street, over the curb and into the sign, Mitchell said. The truck, a 2021 Freightliner, came to rest a few feet away from the shore of Henry Cove, about an hour before high tide rolled in at 6:30 a.m.
Phil Torrey, a fisherman, happened upon the scene and posted a photo of the crash on Facebook.
“Probably a good thing it was there,” Torrey said of the sign. “Stove the truck all to hell but at least he didn’t end up going for a swim.”
Mitchell said the road was partially shut down for about 20 minutes when a tow truck arrived to haul the truck away. The intersection was cleared by 7:15 a.m.