There will be no charges against the driver of a Central Maine Power truck that knocked out a Windham bridge Nov. 11, closing a road for the afternoon and throwing into doubt the future of a major snowmobile trail connector.

Erik Hall, 26, of Gorham was driving a Central Maine Power bucket truck on Mallison Falls Road just before noon when the boom on top of the vehicle struck the metal bridge, knocking it to the ground and scattering debris, said Officer Ray Williams of the Windham Police Department.

The bridge, once used for Mountain Division Line railroad traffic, is a link on the snowmobile and all-terrain vehicle trail system. For nearly four hours, Mallison Falls Road between River Road and Route 237, a section behind the Maine Correctional Center and near the Presumpscot River, was closed.

The rail bed was sold to the Maine Department of Transportation a few years ago, Williams said. It will be up to that agency whether the span is rebuilt, he said.

“I’m not sure it will be,” Williams said, citing the cost and hassle of rebuilding a bridge that is no longer used by trains.

That would be a shame, said Dan McCarthy, president of the newly formed Westbrook Trail Blazes snowmobile club, which maintains the trail in the area of the accident. The loss of the bridge cuts off the Westbrook and South Windham trails from the major systems to the north, he said.

“It is a major trail. It’s the new connector to the trails in Windham,” said McCarthy. “On a good weekend up there, you’ll get 100 sleds per day, easily.”

The club in the last year spent $500 to reinforce the bridge and make it safer for travelers, McCarthy said.

“It took a lot of time and effort,” he said. “We’re a new club. The money came out of our pockets. (The accident) was a good kick in the pants.”

McCarthy said he talked Wednesday to Bob Meyers, president of the Maine Snowmobile Association, and to Department of Transportation officials in order to begin looking for a solution. He said the club will ask Central Maine Power for help as well.

Even if the bridge is not replaced, safety measures will have to be put in place so that off-road vehicles do not crash in the spot, McCarthy said. It may make more sense to put a simple bridge across the span, he said.

“I think that would be cheaper than doing what they have to do to make it safe anyway,” McCarthy said.

In the meantime, McCarthy has set a meeting with officials from the Maine Correctional Center to see if the trail can be re-routed over the prison’s property.

“That’s not the option we like because of a dangerous turn there, and we would still have to put in a bridge because of a culvert,” he said.

Passage is needed to connect the club’s trails to the trails in Windham and Standish, creating a large regional network that gives snowmobilers a good, long ride, McCarthy said.

“It was going to be a straight shot up to Sebago Lake,” he said.

Workers with the Windham Public Works Department attempt to clear an overpass and other debris from Mallison Falls Road this afternoon. The overpass, an unused former railroad bridge, fell after being struck by a Central Maine Power truck.