Two Fatal Crashes at Brunswick Interchange Blamed on Frozen Snowbanks

Two drivers are dead after nearly identical crashes on the same Brunswick on-ramp, where piled winter snowbanks melted and refroze into ramp-like formations that sent vehicles airborne over guardrails onto the ground below.

Both fatal crashes unfolded on the Route 196 on-ramp toward Route 1 northbound, a curved bridge area that the Maine Department of Transportation has flagged as a high-crash location. The first crash occurred on the evening of January 2. A second fatal crash followed within about two months, with investigators describing a pattern so consistent it has prompted state transportation officials to reexamine the corridor.

"The issue appears that the drivers left the travel lane and drove to the right side of the roadway, thereby riding up onto snow that was against the guard rail," Stewart wrote in an email to the Times Record. "The manner in which the snow had melted and refroze created a ramp, causing the vehicles to drive up and over the guardrail."

After the January 2 crash, the Brunswick Police Department notified Maine DOT of the hazard posed by icy snowbanks at the location, Stewart said. Brunswick Police also issued a public warning urging drivers to slow down on the ramp, particularly while snowbanks remain piled up along the roadway.

MDOT has now recorded roughly 30 crashes at that stretch since 2003 in which drivers left the road, with most resulting in property damage and a handful causing injuries. The two deaths this year represent a sharp escalation from that historical pattern.

MDOT spokesperson Andrew Gobeil acknowledged the location's troubled record in a prepared statement. "Given the characteristics of this location, it's experiencing slightly more crashes than we would expect to see based on current data," Gobeil said. "With the similarity of the two fatal crashes this year, we will evaluate the existing signage of the curved bridge to see if additional messaging might help reinforce the need for reduced speed at this location."

What the state has not publicly committed to is any immediate physical intervention, such as removing the snowbanks from the guardrail line or installing temporary barriers. The evaluation Gobeil described is focused on signage, leaving open the question of whether the frozen snowbanks themselves will be addressed before winter conditions ease on their own.