Two state road workers died Tuesday morning when a minivan hit them in a construction zone.
Samantha Tupper, 34, of Augusta was driving a gray Kia minivan south on Interstate 95, near mile marker 127 in Waterville, about 9:37 a.m. when she came up to a construction zone, according to Shannon Moss, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
The Maine Department of Transportation had closed the southbound travel lane beginning at the Kennedy Memorial Drive on-ramp for bridge construction work. The area was posted with cones and a stop sign.
Tupper allegedly didn’t stop at the posted sign and then attempted to enter the passing lane, where she was hit by a tractor-trailer, Moss said Tuesday.
That sent her minivan careening into the work zone, where she hit three state road workers, sending two of them — 60-year-old James Brown and 51-year-old Dwayne Campbell, both of Waterville — over the bridge and down onto Kennedy Memorial Drive.
Brown and Campbell died at the scene.
The third worker, whose identity wasn’t made public, was taken to the hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening.
Tupper also was taken to the hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening. She had two children in the Kia with her, neither of whom was injured.
The tractor-trailer’s driver wasn’t injured.
In a statement, Gov. Janet Mills implored Mainers to slow down on the roads and to give construction crews a wide berth,
“Today, two public servants from MaineDOT tragically lost their lives while serving the people of Maine. Our hearts are with their families, loved ones, and all MaineDOT employees during this unimaginably painful time. MaineDOT workers put themselves in harm’s way every day to keep our roads safe and our infrastructure strong,” Mills said.
Dale Doughty, the acting commissioner of the Maine Department of Transportation, called the workers “dedicated public servants.”
“Our hearts are broken, and our thoughts and prayers are with their families, loved ones, and coworkers during this unimaginable loss,” Doughty said.
The crash remains under investigation.
