Tractor-trailer accident causes I-95 congestion Saturday

East Lyme - A tractor-trailer plunged off the highway and down an embankment between Exits 73 and 72 on northbound Interstate 95 early Saturday morning, snarling traffic past the Baldwin Bridge for most of the day.

The 1998 Freightliner tractor-trailer, owned by Jacris Transport of Lauderhill, Fla., and driven by James A. Cardenas, 45, of Sunrise, Fla., was traveling northbound on I-95 around 4:45 a.m. when it went off the right side of the highway and struck the metal guardrail, according to a state police accident report.

It went over the guardrail and down the embankment, striking several trees along the way.

Police had to call in a heavy-duty wrecker to pull the truck back up the embankment, constricting I-95 northbound to one lane and causing the traffic backups.

At 6 p.m., the delays still stretched over the Baldwin Bridge into Old Saybrook.

By late evening, the scene was cleared and traffic flow was back to normal.

The tractor-trailer was totalled. Cardenas suffered minor injuries and was transported via ambulance to Lawrence & Memorial Hospital, where he was treated and released.