Crime & Safety
Accident on Arrigoni Slows Traffic
Cleaned up quickly during Wednesday morning commute.
The Arrigoni Bridge was closed for a time Wednesday morning because of what police describe as a minor accident.
The accident was called in at 8:03 a.m., just after the peak of the rush hour. Fire and EMS personnel reached the scene quickly. Police say it was cleared in about 20 minutes partly because of a wrecker that's on stand-by during peak hours ready to handle accidents on the span.
Motorists on the Portland side were backed up on Main Street and Route 66. It was also slow going on side streets that feed into Main and 66 in the business district. One motorist reported being in basically the same spot for more than 45 minutes.
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Traffic started to move again slowly a few minutes before 9 a.m. It was sluggish, then began to move faster. A police officer was standing at the intersection of 66 and Main to help guide motorists.
Since the bridge was reduced to two lanes on June 28, travel has been smooth except for a few moments to queue up to merge into one lane.
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This incident did not appear on the DOT email alert system that flashes reports about accidents relating to the Hartford and Northern Middlesex area.