Lumber truck crash closes Rt. 11 in Chester Driver cited: was his 2nd accident in same area in five years

UPDATE – November 12, 9:52 p.m. – Vermont State Police have posted that Route 11 is now open to traffic.

By Shawn Cunningham
© 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC

Around 1 p.m. this afternoon — Tuesday — a tractor trailer carrying lumber slid off the road into a ditch on Route 11 just west of Swett Road in Chester, reducing traffic to a single lane and then closing the road as crews worked to recover the truck.

The road was closed after 3:30 p.m. and was expected to remain closed for at least two hours. At 5 p.m., the road remained closed.

Longtime readers of The Telegraph may be experiencing a bit of deja vu, as a similar accident happened at almost the same spot in October 2014. Both accidents involved the same trucking company and the same driver.

According to DMV Enforcement Sgt. Mark Heberts, Michael Barrieau, 62, of Sandgate was the truck driver involved in both accidents.

Chester Police Sgt. Will Frank told The Telegraph that Barrieau said he was driving a J&J Trucking tractor trailer west on Rt. 11 and when he came around the curve to find another vehicle over the double yellow line coming in the opposite direction.

“He said he tried to move over to avoid a crash and was pulled into the dirt (beyond the shoulder),” said Frank. Barrieau’s truck slid into the ditch and rolled onto its side dumping some of its cargo of boards.

Chester Police and Fire departments  responded to the call along with Vermont State Police and DMV Law Enforcement. The fire department handled traffic flow as the road was reduced to one lane.  VTrans personnel came to clear the road of the dirt that the crash kicked up and Hillside Towing arrived on the scene at 3:20 p.m. to remove the tractor trailer.

Just before 4 p.m., authorities announced that the road would be closed while the truck is recovered. Barrieau was cited for “Driving on roadways laned for traffic,” which is how Vermont law describes failure to maintain your lane.

No one was injured in the crash.