A backhoe lodged in a toll plaza lane on northbound Interstate 95 at the Fort McHenry Tunnel Thursday afternoon was removed shortly after it arrived, officials said.

The backhoe, which was considered an oversized load, was dislodged from lane No. 3 at the toll plaza by removing a barrier, said Sgt. Jonathan Green, a spokesman for the Maryland Transportation Authority Police.

Green said the driver had a permit to transport an oversized load but apparently violated its instructions in multiple ways. The driver tried to take the vehicle through a wrong lane for oversized loads and was traveling without a required escort vehicle during peak traffic hours when the permit was invalid, Green said. In addition, the driver failed to notify authorities an hour in advance of attempting to go through the tunnel -- another traffic offense.

He said the single toll lane disruption did not affect afternoon traffic since drivers could go through one of the other 11 northbound toll lanes.

There was no injury or collision in the incident, Green said, but he added that the driver would receive multiple citations for oversized-load permit violations.

michael.dresser@baltsun.com

Sun Reporter Jessica Anderson contributed to this article.