Second big rig in a week blocks Smugglers Notch
June 7, 2021 | By Lisa ScagliottiIn the latest installment of “what were they thinking?” Vermont State Police were called to Smugglers Notch on Sunday, June 6, after a tractor-trailer became wedged between rocks along the narrow, barely-two-lane curvy mountain road for four hours.
The incident happened around 2:30 p.m. when truck driver Kyle Shepherd, age 33 of Revere, Mass., on his way to Stowe from Cambridge passed multiple signs that say Vermont Route 108 through the notch is no place for an 18-wheeler.
“Shepherd stated he observed the signs but decided to continue. After several attempts, Shepherd was unable to clear the turn due to the length of the trailer,” Trooper Giancarlo Di Genova explained in yet another press release describing a stuck-truck incident.
Shepherd unhitched the trailer which then completely blocked the road. Alerts went out through Vermont emergency service channels advising the public that the road was closed temporarily and a tow truck was called.
This was the second time in a week that a tractor-trailer shut down the notch road. The other happened Monday, June 3.
All was cleared and the road reopened by 6:40 p.m., four hours after Shepherd attempted his shortcut. Police issued the driver a ticket with a fine of $2,347 and a penalty of two points on his operator’s license for impeding the flow of traffic through Smugglers Notch.