WATERVILLE, Maine — A portion of Interstate 95 in Waterville was shut down Thursday afternoon after a tractor-trailer truck crashed into the median after avoiding a wrong-way driver.
At approximately 12:21 p.m., multiple calls were made to the Augusta Regional Communications Center reporting a white 2019 Chevy Silverado headed northbound in the southbound lanes on I-95 near mile marker 127, according to a news release from Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss.
As troopers responded to the wrong-way driver, a tractor-trailer heading southbound reportedly crashed near mile marker 131 in Fairfield. Moss said the driver of the tractor-trailer was traveling in the southbound passing lane when he saw the wrong-way driver coming towards him.
The driver of the tractor-trailer was able to avoid the Chevy truck by slamming on the brakes and swerving to the left, which caused the tractor-trailer to roll over into the median.
The tractor-trailer was reportedly registered to River View Transport out of Houlton and was hauling potatoes.
Moss said the Chevy truck continued heading northbound in the southbound lanes until mile marker 134 where the vehicle turned around and began traveling in the correct direction in the southbound lanes.
"The driver then exited the Interstate at mile marker 133 where a Clinton Police Officer spotted the pick-up truck and was able to conduct a traffic stop without incident on Route 201 near the restaurant the Purple Cow," Moss said in the release.
Randolph Gerry, 71, of Winslow now faces charges of driving to endanger and operating the wrong way on a divided highway and has been issued a summons to appear in court. Gerry did not "show any indications of impairment" and did not have any known medical conditions at the time of the incident.
Troopers said the driver was not injured.
The passing lane was closed due to the crash and will remain closed until the tractor-trailer has been cleared from the roadway.