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Two separate two-vehicle accidents in the span of 20 minutes brought traffic to a crawl on the Portage Lake Lift Bridge Thursday afternoon. The first occurred at 3:40 when a Toyota Tacoma driven by 33-year-old Paul Haataja rear ended a Chevrolet Malibu steered by 17-year-old Isaak Pietela. Both are from Hancock. Haataja says his foot slipped off the brake pedal when he tried to come to a stop.
The second accident involved a tow truck from Dave’s BP and a Ford F-150 driven by 46-year-old Matthew Griffith of Atlantic Mine. The tow truck was side swiped when Griffith attempted to change lanes.
Additionally, a barge and tug totaling over 800-feet long was escorted by the Coast Guard’ Cutter Hollyhock at roughly 2:00 PM. The bridge was raised for close to a half hour with long backups on both sides of the canal. It proved to be a very long day for motorists.
