A layer of ice covering roads and sidewalks across southern Maine made for a slow and slippery morning commute Friday.

Dozens of schools, including Portland public schools, closed for the day or delayed the start of classes by two hours.

Icy conditions early Friday were blamed for the rollover of a diesel fuel truck that closed a section of Route 22 in Scarborough. Detours around the accident created significant delays along the heavily traveled stretch of road.

Route 22, also known as County Road, was closed between Saco Street in Scarborough and Spring Street in Westbrook as crews worked to clear the crash scene. The eastbound lane of the road reopened to traffic around 8:30 a.m., and the entire road was reopened by about 10 a.m.

Police dispatchers said the rollover happened around 3 a.m. The driver, whose name was not disclosed, was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland with unknown injuries.

Crews from the local fire department and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection helped supervise the cleanup of about 50 gallons of diesel that spilled, said Scarborough Fire Chief Michael Thurlow.

In Waterford, alcohol and road conditions contributed to the death of a Waterford woman whose vehicle went off the road and struck a tree, according to the Oxford County Sheriff’s Department.

Jennifer Daggett, 37, was already dead when responders arrived around 7:30 a.m. Friday.

The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office received calls about multiple slide-offs between 6:30 and 6:45 a.m., but no major accidents were reported, according to a dispatcher.

Speeds were reduced to 45 mph for the entire length of the Maine Turnpike through the morning. The speed limit also was reduced on Interstate 295. The Maine Turnpike Authority said speed limits were restored to normal shortly after noon.

In Somerset County, cars and trucks began sliding off the roads as early as 5 a.m. as sleet and freezing rain encased everything in ice.

There were accidents on Madison Road in Norridgewock; in Skowhegan, where a vehicle was reported on its side on Middle Road; and Embden, where a Skowhegan taxicab was reported to have slid down an embankment and struck a tree on Kennebec River Road, said Cpl. Gene Cole of the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department.

“We’ve got a lot of ice on the road and now it’s turning into slush,” Cole said, noting that there were no reported injuries in any of the accidents. “They were mostly just going off the road into a ditch.”

He said the Maine Department of Transportation “has been out doing the best they can. We got quite a bit of icing all of a sudden – it was raining ice and it just froze onto the roads. Some of your secondary roads are still pretty slippery.”

Erin Courtney, a spokeswoman for the Maine Turnpike Authority, said crews were not able to pretreat the turnpike with brine because the roads were already wet Thursday night with snow. Crews instead treated the roads with rock salt.

Schools in AOS 92 – Waterville, Winslow and Vassalboro – and Oakland-based Regional School Unit 18 were canceled. Augusta schools announced a two-hour delay before switching to a full-day cancellation. Most Somerset County districts canceled school as well.

In Kennebec County, Sheriff Ryan Reardon said Friday the most serious accidents involved a vehicle that rolled over on Location Road in Belgrade, a truck that hit a pole on Middle Road in Sidney and another vehicle that went off the road in Litchfield.

The Capital Judicial Center in Augusta was one of a number of courts that delayed opening for two hours, and the Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee canceled its 8 a.m. meeting.

The Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel contributed to this report.

Gillian Graham can be contacted at 791-6315 or at:

ggraham@pressherald.com

Twitter: grahamgillian

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