Truck takes down wires on Rt. 11 leaving hundreds without power

UPDATE: Route 11 is open to one lane as of 6:30 p.m. Please drive slowly

By Shawn Cunningham
© 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC

Lights flickered and internet service sputtered throughout Chester and Andover around 1:30 p.m. today as a truck carrying an oversized load snagged wires on Route 11 near Motel in the Meadow in Chester, taking out a power pole, closing the road in both directions and knocking out electricity.

According to Chester Police Chief Tom Williams, the truck — which was traveling east from New Jersey to Maine — caught low-hanging wires, pulling a nearby pole over and breaking it just below the transformer.

Williams said the driver of the lead chase truck had warned the man driving the oversize load about the wires but told him that he could make it if he got farther over to the right.

But that was not the case and in short order, 329 Green Mountain Power customers in Chester and Andover had no power.

While Chester Police, Fire and Ambulance handled traffic — aided by  VTrans and county sheriffs — GMP crews got to work clearing the mess, installing a new transformer and hanging wires, which included fiber optic cables for various phone and internet providers.

The process will take some time but is being sped by GMP not needing to put in a new pole because upgraded poles have been installed in that area and were waiting for the wires to be moved to them from older poles.

As of 5:45 p.m., the road remained closed  and the power remained out to 329 customers.