As construction on the $3.8 million replacement of the Old State Road Bridge came to a close on Tuesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the state would implement new measures to prevent future bridge strikes.
The bridge, located over I-90 in Albany County, had been subject to numerous over-height truck hits over the past several years, causing traffic delays on the Thruway mainline. The new bridge has an increased clearance of 16 feet, 6 inches, to prevent similar future incidents.
“While maintaining strong, safe transportation infrastructure is critical for keeping our roadways safe, it’s also an important piece in growing local economies, and this is why New York has made the strengthening of bridges and roadways a top priority,” Governor Cuomo said. “Not only does the new Old State Road Bridge improve the safety and reliability of the Thruway, but by increasing its clearance, we are helping prevent troublesome traffic delays which impact travel and commerce. When you combine this progress along with our new enforcement and education initiative, New York is taking a proactive approach towards improving safety for all those who travel our roads.”
To combat the nearly 220 average bridge strikes per year, between Nov. 9 and Nov. 15, New York State Police, the New York State Department of Transportation, and the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee will launch a collaborative enforcement and education effort.
State Troopers will focus on active patrols in areas where bridge strikes have happened before – mostly on roadways with low railroad bridges and New York State Parkways. While commercial trucks are banned on the parkways, sometimes operators using consumer-grade GPS services will find themselves on the parkways. Consumer-GPS devices do not include information about low bridges or restricted routes.
“Bridge strikes pose a danger to everyone who uses our highways, and they cause unnecessary delays to countless numbers drivers who get stuck in traffic because of them. The Department of Transportation is proud to join with the State Police and our other partners in government in this important initiative that will hopefully keep trucks off roads where they don’t belong and make our highways safer for everyone,” Department of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez said.