Traffic flows Monday morning on Main Street in Lewiston between Elm and Holland streets, where a woman was struck by a vehicle about 4:30 a.m. Police said Jessica Sawyer, 44, of Lewiston was taken to Central Maine Medical Center where she was pronounced dead. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal
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LEWISTON — A 44-year-old Lewiston woman is dead after being struck by a car on Main Street early Monday.

Police responded to the area of 391 Main St. around 4:30 a.m. Monday following a report of a pedestrian accident and found Jessica Sawyer in critical condition, a statement from the city said.

Police said Sawyer was transported to Central Maine Medical Center, where she was pronounced deceased.

A police investigation found that Sawyer was crossing Main Street when she was struck by a 2024 Toyota Tacoma operated by 31-year-old Jordan Blais of Auburn. Blais was traveling inbound on Main Street when he struck Sawyer in the roadway, police said.

The area of Main Street was closed for several hours while accident reconstruction and investigators processed the scene. Police believe “weather/road conditions” to be a contributing factor to the accident.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Det. Crystal Lachance at clachance@lewistonmaine.gov.

According to the Maine Department of Transportation, there have been 49 pedestrian crashes so far this year statewide, not including Monday’s accident.

In Maine, overall traffic fatalities, including pedestrian deaths, reached a 15-year high in 2022 with 181 deaths. There were 20 pedestrian fatalities in 2023, and 18 last year. There have been six already in 2025, with three occurring in Portland.

Earlier this month, city officials and staff outlined work underway to make improvements to high-crash intersections in Lewiston, with the section of Main Street between the Auburn line and Sabattus Street its top priority.

That section saw 43 crashes in the 10-year period between 2012-2023, with three fatalities and 11 serious injuries.

Two separate pedestrian safety projects along Main Street are scheduled to begin April 7. One will make sidewalk and Americans with Disabilities Act improvements on a 1.3-mile stretch between the Longley Bridge and Strawberry Avenue. The other will make a series of pedestrian improvements to crossings at five different locations along the same stretch.

In 2016, 13-year-old Jayden Cho-Sargent was struck and killed on his way to school at the intersection of Main and Frye streets — two blocks from Monday’s accident — sparking a focus not only on pedestrian safety, but also on the Main Street corridor.