On July 2, the first tractor trailer of the 2023 summer season got stuck in the Smugglers Notch passage of Route 108 between Stowe and Cambridge.
Around 9 p.m., Yusnier Anuez, 36, of Florida City, Fla., ignored several signs on the roads leading toward the Notch, including those posted near the I-89 exit in Waterbury, as well as multiple bystanders who attempted to stop him from driving his big rig on his way to getting stuck in the boulder-laden roadway, according to Vermont State Police.
According to Anuez, he was following directions from his GPS. Traffic through the Notch was delayed for several hours until the truck was removed by R.R. Charlebois Towing after midnight.
Anuez’s incident continues a trend of Florida-based truck drivers contributing to most of the blocked Notch incidents. In the past 11 years, Sunshine State truckers have now been stuck 13 times and contributed the most to obstructing Vermont’s scenic byway.
A California truck attempted to drive through Smugglers Notch on the afternoon of July 4, according to the Lamoille County Sheriff's Department, but retreated before being deemed officially stuck.
That driver, Byambadorj Avirmed, 63, of Harbor City, Calif., also told troopers he saw all the posted signs but continued anyway. He was also ticketed.
Construction has been underway in the Notch since late May and is part of a program to address parking and visitor concerns, not the annual problem of stuck truck incidents. The Vermont Agency of Transportation has been conducting surveys and is considering further infrastructure changes to prevent these incidents, though the annual number of trucks getting stuck in the Notch has declined since 2020.
Rotary winner
In April, Stowe Rotary Club announced a stuck truck raffle where participants could buy a $10 chance on when the first truck of the year would become ensnared between the boulders on the popular roadway, with the winner receiving half of the collected pool.
After the Saturday incident, the club announced Deborah Janis of Holyoke, Mass., as the winner of the raffle and recipient of $2,985.
Janis has been vacationing in Stowe since 1972, according to club president Richard Litchfield, and plans to return for leaf peeper season. Her mother also took a guess in the raffle, and Janis plans to share her winnings with her.
The Rotary Club will use the other half of the pot for charitable activities in Stowe, including scholarships for students at Stowe High School and Green Mountain Technology and Career Center and grants to local nonprofit companies.
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