Another tractor-trailer hits notorious Glenville bridge

The notorious Glenridge Road bridge in Glenville was hit by another tractor-trailer, late Tuesday evening.

Despite recent construction to avoid trucks hitting the bridge, it may be a problem they just can’t fix, Town Supervisor Chris Koetzle said.

“I just don’t know how that driver believed that truck was going to fit under the bridge,” Koetzle said.

It’s the same story over and over again, and it has been for several years.

Another tractor trailer slammed into the Glenridge Road bridge in Glenville around 11 p.m. Tuesday night.

“I just don’t know how that driver believed that truck was going to fit under the bridge,”

Glenville Town Supervisor Chris Koetzle

It’s a problem Town Supervisor Koetzle believes will never go away.

“As long as you have bridges that are lower than trucks themselves, there’s going to be a problem,”

The latest truck to hit the 10 ft, 11 in. Bridge, measured 13 ft., 6 in. The driver was not hurt, but they were ticketed.

“We have been lucky so far that nobody has been injured, really, or killed, but our luck is going to run out on that,” Koetzle said.

The Department of Transportation is working on a project to mitigate these accidents. The project is about 65% complete, Koetzle said.

“It’s shocking how many drivers fail to pay attention to any signs which are already there, and hopefully this light laser system is going to catch their attention,” he said.

The next phase of the project includes an over height detection system.

“It’ll be a beam going across the road and once the truck that’s traveling exceeds the 10 ft., 11 in. barrier, then it will break that beam, and when it breaks that beam it will send signals and all sorts of lights are supposed to flash,” Koetzle said.

Although the road is owned by the state, and the bridge is owned by the rail company, the town deals with the headaches.

The bridge was there before the road, Koetzle said. When it was reconstructed, it changed from one-way traffic to two-way traffic. That’s when the problems started.

“DOT kind of created their own problem by doing this, and the rail company made it worse by refusing to raise the bridge during that project,” Koetzle said.

If this had happened during rush hour, it would have had a significant impact, he said.

“Maybe technology will take care of this at some point, but until that happens, I don’t think we’re going to see this completely go away,” he said. “Hopefully this system will mitigate it.”