South Portland police say the traffic lights at a major intersection near the Maine Mall were back on just in time for rush hour Thursday afternoon.
Lt. Frank Clark of the South Portland Police Department said the lights at the intersection of Maine Mall, Gorham and Running Hill roads had been out since around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday because of an alleged drunk driving accident.
Raymond Warner, 31, of Limington, was driving southbound on Maine Mall Road when he ran a red light at that intersection. He hit a car passing through a green light toward Running Hill Road. Warner’s pickup truck spun and hit the signal control box for the intersection — “the brains of the system,” Clark said.
South Portland police arrested Warner and charged him with one count of operating under the influence. There were no passengers in his truck. The three people in the other car were transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Contractors from AD Electric Inc. handled the repair. Officers directed traffic at the intersection. A post on the department Facebook page alerted drivers to the repair around 4 p.m.
“THANK YOU to those who avoided the area throughout the day today,” the post stated. “I hope any who were impacted made it safely (and more or less on time) to their destinations.”
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