Date: Fri 31-Jan-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

Pootatuck-Park-roads-weather

Full Text:

Truck Slides Off Icy Road

Police responded to an incident in Pootatuck Park about 8 pm on Tuesday after

a pickup truck that was parked on Edgelake Drive slid on the ice-covered road,

went down an embankment and hit a tree.

Richard Alves, 30, of Budd Drive, said he was planning to visit friends on

Edgelake Drive when he parked his 1988 half-ton Chevrolet pickup truck against

a retaining wall in front of the house. Before he could exit the vehicle,

however, it began to slide on the ice-covered road which slopes down toward

the river.

The pickup slid sideways across both lanes and went over the embankment,

travelling 35 feet down before it came to rest against a tree. The tree

prevented the pickup truck from going into the river, Mr Alves said.

The pickup truck sustained minor damage. It was winched up the embankment by a

tow truck. Mr Alves, who is a professional firefighter, was not injured.

"I was very lucky because the truck didn't roll," he said. "If it had been a

fire truck or an ambulance, it probably would have rolled."

Last February, residents of Edgelake Drive, Elmwood Drive, Maplewood Drive and

Brook Bridge Drive came to a Board of Selectmen meeting to ask for help in

resolving continued flooding, ice and erosion problems on the dirt roads,

which are private roads. The town agreed to repair the drainage and pave the

roads, if the residents paid for half the cost of the materials, as allowed

under a 1968 town road ordinance.

Public Works Director Fred Hurley said drainage work is underway and the roads

will be paved later this year if the residents are ready and able to pay their

share of the cost.