ANDOVER — An apparently sleep deprived truck driver barrelled through a narrow Main Street construction zone yesterday taking out a tree and some utility lines and closing down a short stretch of the road for most of the afternoon.

Workers installing a gas main at Morton Street at 11:30 a.m. saw an 18-wheeler coming and tried signaling it to slow down.

But police say the driver, Troy Marshall of Indiana, had not taken a break from driving his route for a day or two by the time he came upon the work zone.

"Apparently he was misdirected or missed a turn and he entered a construction zone at an excessive speed. The detail officers attempted to get him to slow down," Andover police Lt. James Hashem said. "Unfortunately, he didn't slow down until the truck impacted the trees on the side of the road."

No one was injured.

While Main Street continues to be open to two-way traffic during summer construction, the makeshift travel lanes taper and are pushed to the sides of the road, where lower tree branches hang.

The truck pushed into the low hanging limbs, taking down some branches before it careened into another tree, completely uprooting it from the ground.

The downed tree hit a telephone pole, taking out cable and telephone service to several businesses and homes in that area. The services were expected to be restored by last night.

Marshall, who works for First Option Inc. cargo service in Marion, Ind., was cited for false logbook entries and trucking violations by the state police truck team, according to state police Sgt. Timothy Finn.

Truck drivers sometimes enter false entries into their logbooks to make it appear they were resting when they were actually driving.

Marshall also may be cited for speeding, Hashem said.

Hashem said he did not know how fast Marshall was driving, but that it was "too fast." The posted speed limit for that area is 30 mph, but is reduced with the ongoing construction.

The accident closed down Main Street from Morton to Locke Street, causing people to detour down side streets as crews cut up the tree and towed away the truck.

State police took the truck out of service for 10 hours, which would ensure that Marshall got some rest. It was brought to the town's public works yard on Lewis Street.

It was the first major disruption for downtown drivers since the Main Street renovation started earlier this year.

The multimillion-dollar construction project aims at making downtown easier for drivers and pedestrians to navigate by redesigning the roads and adding more stop signs and synchronized traffic lights.