Crashes in I-95 work area cause commuting crunch

HERMON – Construction in the northbound lane of Interstate 95 caused two minor accidents Tuesday, backing up traffic for about an hour and a half and hindering the morning commute for many.

No one was hurt, but five vehicles had significant damage. The Maine Department of Transportation has been paving and repairing guardrails in the area of the interstate covering Hampden, Hermon and into Bangor, a DOT representative said Tuesday.

Maine State Police Trooper Michael Johnston responded at about 7:30 a.m. after a woman nearing construction slowed down suddenly, causing the car behind to rear-end her just before the Bangor town line on I-95.

Judith Macpheters, 50, of Detroit had about $1,500 in rear-end damage to her Toyota sport utility vehicle, Johnston said. The trooper estimated front-end damage to a Ford Taurus driven by Ellen Wulf, 44, of Hawleyville, Conn. at $5,000.

Macpheters slowed down suddenly, leaving Wulf, who was traveling too closely, without enough time to stop, Johnston said. Wulf told Johnston she was doing about 55 mph before hitting the brakes and crashed into Macpheters’ SUV.

No charges were filed, but the trooper said it was a good reminder for drivers to stay one car-length behind other vehicles for every 10 mph of speed.

While traffic was reduced to one lane as that accident cleared, another accident involving three cars occurred at about 7:50 a.m., state police Sgt. Sean Hashey said. Chad Ross, 17, of Newburgh was watching for merging traffic from an offramp and didn’t notice the cars in front of him slowing down, Hashey said.

Ross struck a Ford minivan driven by Jamie Prosser, 26, of Etna, causing Prosser to rear-end a Chevy minivan driven by Linda Nickerson, 37, of Brooks.

Nickerson’s van had only minor damage, but Ross’ Ford Aspire and Prosser’s minivan had a few thousand dollars in damage, Hashey estimated.