UPDATE: 7 Vehicle Crash Shuts Down Sakonnet River Bridge
A major vehicle crash shut down the Sakonnet River Bridge on Monday morning. The bridge has since been re-opened.
The following story was updated Monday at 5:32 p.m.
Three police cruisers were struck during a multi-vehicle crash Monday morning on the Sakonnet River Bridge.
This is the second major vehicle crash to occur on a Portsmouth bridge in the past three days. On Saturday night, a Barrington man was killed and five other people were injured after a head-on collision on the Mt. Hope Bridge.
No injuries were reported in the crash on Monday.
According to The Providence Journal, the Sakonnet River Bridge was shut down for more than two hours Monday morning after a dump truck carrying rocks sideswiped a vehicle and struck a police cruiser. The truck was passing a minor two-vehicle crash at the time. The bridge has since been re-opened.
Portsmouth police later released the following statement:
On Dec. 3, 2012 at approximately 9:25 A.M., while two Portsmouth Police officers were investigating a motor vehicle accident in the south bound lanes of the Sakonnet River Bridge, the operator of a dump-truck, who was approaching the scene, lost control of his truck.
As a result, the dump-truck forced a Tiverton Police car into the Jersey-Barrier and struck a total of six vehicles including two Portsmouth Police cars. However, there were no reported injuries. The cause of the accident remains under investigation by the Rhode Island State Police.
This incident occurred the same day as a hearing on proposed tolls for the Sakonnet River Bridge, which spans Portsmouth and Tiverton. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at Portsmouth High School.
janet
5:37 pm on Monday, December 3, 2012
I take the route everyday, the speed is whey to fast.
Ralph Doliber
10:14 am on Tuesday, December 4, 2012
That bridge they want to toll us on undulates like the White Mountains!
Seriously, is the topping a rough draft to be finished later or is that IT??
Good question for Tuesday Night!
Even forgetting the horribly dangerous temp start/finish parts (especially going south)the bridge surfacing job is horrible! To Paraphrase a good story by the great Hans Christian Anderson- The Emperors New Bridge
Erin O'Connell Bednarczyk
10:14 am on Tuesday, December 4, 2012
It is a miraculous stroke of luck that "no injuries" resulted from this accident. The Police, especially were fortunate-- I worry about those guys all the time. Regarding the current state of the Sakonnet River Bridge, the Southbound lanes are more dangerous than ever. In order for drivers to safely slow down for lane merges and The Bump, signage needs to be placed further North on Rt 24.
Jordan Phelan
10:59 am on Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Actually its 24 hours, not 3 days
antbony
12:11 pm on Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Why don't the police enforce the speed limits on rt 24? Rather ironic series of events.