A view of the passage that motorists must negotiate while driving south on I-91 through Easthampton. The construction is blamed for an increase in accidents on the highway.">
By Owen Boss
Staff Writer
EASTHAMPTON - When Maryann Kieras lost control of her car in March and crashed into the concrete barriers surrounding a treacherous Interstate Route 91 construction zone, she was knocked unconscious for more than two hours.
When she came to in a Northampton hospital bed, state police had a ticket waiting for her.
"Had I been killed, maybe they wouldn't have given me a ticket," said Kieras, 61. "I never realized that there were so many accidents along that stretch until after I crashed, when I noticed more of them in the news."
In fact, there have been dramatically more accidents at the work site this year - with 16 logged already, compared to three in 2008.
A state highway official notes that thousands make it through the area safely. But for those who do not, a trip through the narrowed lanes on I-91 can bring injury, financial losses and motor-vehicle violations.
And drivers who come upon accident scenes can face long delays, as traffic comes to a standstill while authorities clean up the accident scene.
(Link to video about construction zone.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y_2aG3MT9k
One driver's trip
To get to work the Monday after the accident, Kieras said she ran the gauntlet between Exits 17 and 18 again, this time with her face covered in bruises and fluid gathering around her injured eye socket.
"It was a really nasty accident, it was no picnic," Kieras said. "But I have to do what I have to do, it is a dangerous area and I always hold my breath going through there because you can't move a quarter of an inch in either direction."
The construction zone Kieras crashed in requires motorists on both sides of the highway to navigate through two narrow lanes of concrete Jersey barriers.
Kieras, of Hadley, appeared in Northampton District Court Monday to appeal the citation she received for failing to stay in her lane. She said she believes the accident was caused by a broken tie rod that forced her car into the barriers. She said she'll find out through the mail the result of her appeal.
"My mechanic said that when a tie rod breaks, that is often what the car will do. You cannot move it right or left and I was doing my damnedest but couldn't do anything but try to straighten it out, and I started to fishtail," she said.
Spate of accidents
Lt. John G. Murphy, station commander at state police's Northampton barracks, said emergency crews have responded to far more accidents at the site during the first six months of 2009 than in any other time span since the federal and state-funded bridge reconstruction project began last April.
According to Murphy, the site's first accident, and the only accident to take place in the eight months construction was going on in 2007, took place Sept. 23.
In 2008, there were three accidents in the construction zone and in 2009, there have already been 16 reported accidents, including two involving oversized loads that ignored signs warning of narrow corridors, and several that involved drivers who were just going too fast, Murphy said.
As motorists approach the site between Exit 17 and 18 from either direction on I-91, signs warn them that the speed limit will change to 45 mph and they must choose to travel down one of two 100-yard stretches of Jersey barriers. The barriers are separated by only 11 feet, which leaves most drivers with only 2 or 3 feet of free space.
According to Adam Hurtubise, a spokesman for the state Highway Department, the treacherous section of highway has been rearranged since April 2007, when the department began an $11.3 million project to replace the bridge over East Street with a three-span, steel girder bridge. The majority of the project, he said, is expected to be completed by the end of this year while some East Street work will last into next spring.
"Of the accidents this year, four resulted in individuals being charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, six others were charged with more minor offenses and the others didn't result in citations," Murphy said. "The way I look at it, in spite of all of these accidents, there are thousands of other motorists who have gone through the same construction zone without a problem."
Just last week, a tractor trailer that crashed while traveling through the site left 25 gallons of diesel fuel spilled across the highway and northbound traffic stretch for miles after the accident limited drivers to only one lane for more than five hours. Two weeks ago, a suspected drunken driver allegedly forced another motorist into the Jersey barriers before leading state police on a high-speed car chase into Hatfield. Neither accident resulted in injury, but both caused traffic delays.
Although the project has been a real problem so far this year, Hurtubise said motorists who regularly run the gauntlet can expect an easier ride down I-91 in the coming weeks.
"Phase II of the project should be completed within the next month, and the contractor should be pouring the decks over the next couple of weeks," Hurtubise said. "Phase III will shift the two right lanes over and the left lane will be closed. Traffic will not be split, so that will be a little easier on drivers."
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.
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