Another truck strikes Glenville bridge as town says it will not sue over crashes

Glenville says federal protections on railroad companies hamstring its ability to sue

Another hit at the infamous Glenville bridge on Glenridge Road.

Another truck hit the Glenridge Road bridge in Glenville Tuesday.

The crash happened around 3:11 p.m. Glenville Police said a 2019 Freightliner was heading east on Glenridge Road. The driver, 51-year-old Patrick Tescione, of Wallkill, told police he was watching the car in front of him and did not see the flashing warning signal.

The truck, which belonged to Brenntag Lubricants of Manchester, N.H., had extensive damage.

There were no injuries. The roadway was reopened not too longer after the crash.

Tescione was cited for failure to obey a traffic control device and one violation of town code for not following the over height bridge restriction.

Tescione will have to return to Glenville Town Court at a later date.

Town Supervisor Chris Koetzle said that despite Tuesday’s hit, strikes there are down overall.

“When DOT deployed the system, we always knew that it was not going to eliminate but mitigate, and it really has. This is the first strike that we’ve had in seven months. It used to be multiple strikes a month. Now we’re down to one every half a year or something like that. That’s definitely progress,” he said.

After a crash caused an explosion at the Maple Avenue bridge in late 2023, the town explored taking legal action against the railroad companies that own its problematic bridges. But Koetzle said Tuesday that attorneys determined federal laws protecting railroad companies hampered the town’s legal recourse.

Koetzle leaves his post as supervisor in August after nearly a decade and a half.