ELLSWORTH – Traffic on Route 1 west of downtown on part of the highway known as Bucksport Road slowed to a crawl for about an hour late Wednesday afternoon after an excavator downed a power line.

Sgt. Bart Tokas of the Ellsworth Police Department said the accident occurred around 4:45 p.m. near C&C Machine shop. A man operating the excavator bumped a utility pole, causing the line to come down across the road, he said.

Bangor Hydro was called to repair the line while traffic was routed through a nearby parking lot, according to Tokas. He said everything was fixed and regular traffic flow restored on Route 1 about an hour after the accident occurred.