OCEAN CITY -- Traffic in and around the Harry Kelley Bridge area was snarled for much of the day on Wednesday after a town of Ocean City truck struck a utility pole at the base of the span.

Around 8:20 a.m. on Wednesday, an Ocean City wastewater department truck attempting to head west over the Route 50 Bridge from southbound Philadelphia Ave. cut the turn too close and struck a utility pole, snapping it off near the ground. The collision left the utility pole dangling and downed power lines over the roadway.

All of the westbound lanes across the bridge were closed for almost an hour on Wednesday morning as emergency services cleared the vehicle and debris from the roadway. State Highway Administration (SHA) crews arrived and opened one lane of traffic heading westbound on the bridge by closing one of the eastbound lanes, a situation that lasted much of the day on Wednesday.

The early morning rush hour, such as it is in Ocean City in March, was snarled as crews worked to restore normal traffic patterns. Meanwhile, the downed utility pole caused power outages throughout parts of Ocean City for over an hour. Delmarva Power responded quickly and by mid-day on Wednesday, a new utility pole was put in place and power was restored to the areas affected by the outages.

By late Wednesday, traffic patterns had returned to normal in and around the bridge. The driver of the truck was taken to PRMC for treatment of minor injuries. No charges are pending in the accident.