Just days after Notch Road reopened for the 2024 season with new measures in place to prevent “stuckages,” a commercial vehicle almost became lodged along the narrow mountain roadway.Vermont State Police told NBC5 that a tractor-trailer narrowly avoided becoming the first truck stuck on Vermont Route 108, known locally as Smugglers’ Notch or Notch Road, on Thursday morning.However, the driver was able to get the vehicle off the roadway within a matter of minutes.The Vermont Agency of Transportation told NBC5 that the tractor-trailer approached the Notch from the Cambridge side around 11:26 a.m. and used the left-hand lane to avoid the new chicane put in place earlier this month. The driver continued toward the Notch but used one of the new parking areas to turn around and head back down about 15 minutes later.”Our engineering team is considering a variety of options to address the use of the left-hand lane,” Deputy Director of Operations and Safety Todd Sears said in a statement to NBC5.The Vermont State Highway Safety Office and the Vermont Agency of Transportation recently touted the completion of a new series of chicanes that were to be a countermeasure to prevent trucks from getting stuck on the infamous stretch of roadway between Cambridge and Stowe.The chicane mimics the rugged terrain and sharp angles truck drivers would encounter while driving on Smuggler’s Notch Road. Ethan Trombley of Notch Road Auto Repair, whose company serves as a 24-hour towing service that usually helps those truck drivers get out, said they see about 14 of these incidents a year.VTrans said they track this data. The most they’ve seen over the last five years is 11 in 2020. “We think our work over the past few years has done some good, and we remain optimistic about improving further,” Sears said. “We have had five stuckages in each of the past three years, and this reflects a nearly 40% decrease in the five-year average.”
Just days after Notch Road reopened for the 2024 season with new measures in place to prevent “stuckages,” a commercial vehicle almost became lodged along the narrow mountain roadway.
Vermont State Police told NBC5 that a tractor-trailer narrowly avoided becoming the first truck stuck on Vermont Route 108, known locally as Smugglers’ Notch or Notch Road, on Thursday morning.
However, the driver was able to get the vehicle off the roadway within a matter of minutes.
The Vermont Agency of Transportation told NBC5 that the tractor-trailer approached the Notch from the Cambridge side around 11:26 a.m. and used the left-hand lane to avoid the new chicane put in place earlier this month.
The driver continued toward the Notch but used one of the new parking areas to turn around and head back down about 15 minutes later.
“Our engineering team is considering a variety of options to address the use of the left-hand lane,” Deputy Director of Operations and Safety Todd Sears said in a statement to NBC5.
The Vermont State Highway Safety Office and the Vermont Agency of Transportation recently touted the completion of a new series of chicanes that were to be a countermeasure to prevent trucks from getting stuck on the infamous stretch of roadway between Cambridge and Stowe.
The chicane mimics the rugged terrain and sharp angles truck drivers would encounter while driving on Smuggler’s Notch Road.
Ethan Trombley of Notch Road Auto Repair, whose company serves as a 24-hour towing service that usually helps those truck drivers get out, said they see about 14 of these incidents a year.
VTrans said they track this data. The most they’ve seen over the last five years is 11 in 2020.
“We think our work over the past few years has done some good, and we remain optimistic about improving further,” Sears said. “We have had five stuckages in each of the past three years, and this reflects a nearly 40% decrease in the five-year average.”
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