King Street Bridge struck, again - Greenwich, CT - News Article Locations on Waymarking.com

The article by Robert Marchant reads:

"The King Street Bridge on the border of Greenwich and Rye Brook, N.Y. state has a rather unusual distinction — it’s been hit more times than any other bridge in the state of New York.

It has been hit by trucks almost 150 times in the last 10 years. It notched another hit late Friday night, when a truck clipped the span.

Transportation officials, meanwhile, say new technology has been paying off. But the new additions could not prevent the latest mishap involving the low-slung bridge, which can’t accommodate tall trucks — only cars driving on the Hutchinson River Parkway as it leads into the Merritt Parkway on the Connecticut side of the border.

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Some new technology features were added to the northbound side of the Hutchinson Parkway as it approaches the King Street Bridge earlier this year, with $1.8 million of New York state funds aimed at deterring bridge strikes. New devices triggers electronic message boards to flash warnings that trucks need to exit the parkway, where trucks are banned.

A spokesman for the Westchester County Police, Kieran O’Leary, said the new features appeared to be having some successes, though they were not fool-proof.

He said the span was struck by trucks a total of six times so far this year, down from 24 in 2018.

“At King Street, we have seen a significant drop,” said O’Leary.

A new device, using a sensor, will detect when a truck is headed for the bridge, and an alert on a bright electronic sign flashes a warning at the truck driver. New signs and strips have also been added.

The driver involved in the Friday night crash evidently missed all the warning signs — “you have to be pretty inattentive to miss that many signs,” O’Leary noted. That accident was handled by Westchester County authorities.

Most truck drivers who hit the bridges on area parkways are from other parts of the U.S. and are unaware that those roadways cannot handle trucks, the Westchester police spokesman said.

As to the incident Friday night, a tractor-trailer struck the bridge a little after 9 p.m., according to authorities. No injuries took place, and no other vehicles were involved. The driver was from Columbus, Ohio, and was issued multiple summonses, O’Leary said.

The cargo aboard had to be unloaded from the damaged trailer, the police spokesman said, and it took hours to clear the scene of the accident.

Transportation authorities are still working to persuade truck companies to pay extra for commercial navigation software to alert truckers about low underpasses. Those navigation tools cost a little more money than the standard software found on typical consumer devices."

Type of publication: Newspaper When was the article reported?: 11/18/2019 Publication: Greenwich Time Article Url: [Web Link] Is Registration Required?: no How widespread was the article reported?: local News Category: Politics

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