This story is updated.
Maine State Police reopened Interstate 95 after closing part of it in Penobscot County early Saturday afternoon when black ice caused approximately eight crashes and slide-offs on the highway.
A short time later, there were approximately 12 crashes and slide-offs at mile marker 188 southbound in Bangor because of black ice. One person was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to Shannon Moss, public information officer for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
The agency posted a notice of the earlier interstate closure on its Facebook page at around 1 p.m. The crashes generally were on the southbound side of the interstate between Plymouth and Pittsfield, police said.
The closed area was southbound from mile marker 174 to mile marker 159. A tractor-trailer truck ended up sideways across the interstate, and there was one rollover crash, Moss said.
Vehicles were temporarily at a complete stop at mile marker 158 at one point. There were only minor injuries, Moss said.
The National Weather Service office in Caribou issued an alert Saturday morning that “areas of freezing drizzle have created a coating of ice, which will result in very slippery conditions.” The warning covered Aroostook, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Somerset, Hancock and Washington counties.
Police diverted southbound vehicles from the interstate at exit 174, where Route 69 crosses I-95 between Carmel and Winterport, while the interstate was closed, police said.
“People are driving too fast for road conditions,” state police said. “The speed limit has been reduced to 45 mph in the area.”
