Truck tire mishap shuts Maple at 103 in Chester

The corner of Route 103/11 and Maple is marked for re-engineering. Photos by Shawn Cunningham.

By Shawn Cunningham
© 2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC

Maple Street in Chester remained closed at noon today after a tractor-trailer carrying an oversized load clipped a curb, tearing up a tire and shutting off traffic in downtown Chester around 9:30 this morning.

Police estimate that the small section of roadway will be closed for “for several hours,” but that the detours are not difficult.

According to Chester Police Detective Matt Wilson, the truck – owned by Pioneer Heavy Haul – was moving a 196,000-pound “oxygen storage evaporator” through Chester this morning. As the driver attempted to make the turn from Main Street onto Maple Street, he swung too wide and got hung up on the curb in front of the Buckley Center of St. Joseph Catholic Church damaging a tire.

“He was stuck there for a while,” said Wilson, noting that the police had to have the truck pull forward as far as the Jiffy Mart, then back up along Main Street and make another attempt at clearing the corner. “That’s when he ended up going over the sidewalk and the lawn,” said Wilson referring to a property on the corner owned by Charlie Record.

The truck’s tire was damaged when the driver attempted to make a wider turn and hit the curb at the Buckley Center on Main Street.

During this procedure, the center of Chester was shut off from traffic. Wilson told The Telegraph that police detoured traffic onto Church to 103 and Route 11 (Pleasant Street) to Elm to avoid downtown. With paving work going on downtown, Wilson said that the traffic control people working on that project were helpful in directing traffic.

Once the truck came to rest on Maple Street, it was “grounded.”

“It’s not allowed to move until the parts get here and DMV gets here to inspect it,” said Wilson. “This was considered the safest place for it to be.”

The town of Chester is in the beginning phases of re-engineering that corner.

In mid-August, Town Manager David Pisha told the Select Board that VTrans had approached the town with the idea of fixing the corner, where trucks have had

The truck sits at Austin’s Antiques waiting for a tire change and inspection by the Department of Motor Vehicles.

difficulty turning to go north on Route 103 and complaints about the turn radius are normal.

The town would have to take some of the property on the corner, and Record — the homeowner — has agreed to a 3-foot reduction to round out the corner. That plan also would narrow the southbound lane.