For the second time in just a few months, a Windham police officer was struck by a vehicle while directing traffic in the construction area along Route 111.

Officer Bryan Smith was hit in the back by the driver’s side mirror of a pickup truck when he apparently got lost in the truck’s blind spot, said Windham Police Chief Gerald Lewis.

“The driver of the truck that hit him lost sight of officer Smith with the a-pillar on the truck,” said Lewis, who described the “a-pillar” as being the edge of the window frame. “That piece of the truck obscured the officer as (the driver) was making the turn onto 111, and his mirror caught the officer in the back.”

Smith and another officer were directing traffic at the intersection of Range Road and Route 111 when the accident happened at around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 11. The driver of the truck was making a left turn from Range Road onto Route 111. Smith was directing eastbound traffic on Range Road and the other officer was facilitating turns onto Route 111. The driver was following the directions of the other officer to make the turn when his view of Smith was obscured, Lewis explained.

The driver is not being charged with anything.

“The driver was paying attention. He was following the direction of another officer, he just happened to lose that officer as he was making the turn in his blind spot,” Lewis said.

Smith suffered a bruised back and some scrapes and was taken to Parkland Medical Center for evaluation.

Lewis said the need to keep the road open during the Route 111 construction work has made navigating the area especially difficult for drivers. The driving paths are often rerouted and narrowed to allow for better management of the traffic flow, and officers are put in close proximity to the passing vehicles.

“It’s a very involved, largescale construction project,” said Lewis. “It’s a busy intersection that handles a significant amount of traffic on a daily basis, and we do know that the traffic patterns are changing somewhat regularly. That’s kind of the nature of the beast.”

Lewis said he meets regularly with the project’s contractor to discuss coming changes in the traffic patterns so detail officers can adjust.

This incident is different from the one a couple of months ago, when officer Greg Malisos was directing traffic and had to jump out of the way of an oncoming vehicle, the driver of which veered out of his lane and was not paying attention, Lewis said. That driver was charged with driving negligently.

“We are certainly aware that there’s only so much you can do,” Lewis said. “Fortunately, the project is coming to an end, and it should be done very soon.”

The roadwork in that area will be completed in the next couple of months, Lewis said.