Tractor-trailer drives to water’s edge on Blush Hill
July 16, 2022 | By Lisa Scagliotti An eyewitness photo taken from the Waterbury Reservoir shows the scene Monday evening with a tractor-trailer stopped on the boat ramp at the Blush Hill access. (click to enlarge)
A second photo shows the big rig off the boat ramp but still wedged in the parking lot after dark. Courtesy photo (click to enlarge)
A wayward tractor-trailer caused a unique traffic jam at the Blush Hill boat launch this week when it came to a stop just feet from the water.
Boaters on Monday night looking to get their vessels out of the water had to wait several hours before the big rig managed to maneuver out of the way.
The incident captured the attention of onlookers on the water but apparently did not result in any calls for help to authorities.
Vermont State Police, state parks management and town officials afterward all were unaware of the predicament, saying they did not receive any calls for help or to report the situation.
Eyewitnesses said people on various boats, paddle boards and kayaks took in the curious scene as many were moving toward the boat access to get off the water around 6 p.m.
The tractor-trailer had driven down Blush Hill Road into the state park parking lot nearly to the end of the ramp at the water’s edge.
“It was a shocking thing to see,” said George Eget, who was with a few friends on their boat Monday evening and planning to get off the water before dark. The tractor-trailer attracted their attention and others in the vicinity of the boat launch. “There was some guy fishing, paddle-boarders – a lot of people just gawking.”
Eget said his group considered whether to call 9-1-1 but decided against it. “It didn’t seem like a dire emergency,” he said. “We thought we’d let [the driver] figure it out.”
It took some time for the rig to get out of the way. People on small craft such as kayaks and paddle boards were able to exit the water, but those with boats needing to use the ramp had to wait.
Eget’s group didn’t get out and to their vehicles until well after dark and luckily, he said, he was parked on the road above the access, not in the lot behind the stuck truck. When he left around 10 p.m. the truck was still there.
It was not clear whether it caused damage to any other vehicles in the parking lot at the time. The wooden guardrail along the perimeter of the parking lot was damaged with a section broken and snapped from its post. “We heard cracking and crunching sounds,” Eget recalled.
Northeast State Parks Operations Manager Chad Ummel said parks staff has heard from several witnesses since Monday. “None, regrettably, got a license plate number,” he said. The trucking company is a national firm and officials are working to track down more information about the truck’s owner and operator, he said.
It was unknown why the truck was in this location on Monday.
The two-lane Blush Hill Road is posted with a weight limit of 24,000 pounds, making it off limits to 18-wheelers. About 1.5 miles of it is paved from the intersection with Vermont Route 100 north; it is a gravel road for about another mile to its dead-end at the reservoir boat launch and parking lot.
Waterbury Public Works Director Bill Woodruff said the incident was highly unusual and acknowledged that the road is not marked with any sign alerting drivers that it is not a through street. A “No Outlet” sign could be added, he said, but he pointed out that it couldn’t guarantee drivers would heed it.
The wooden guardrail around the perimeter of the parking area has a broken section. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
A guardrail section is broken off a post. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti