FILE - The new turnaround for westbound traffic, seen last week
GLENVILLE – A Friday morning bridge strike at the Glenridge Road bridge now famous for bridge strikes led to citations issued to the Schenectady driver.
Friday’s strike also happened just over a week after a truck turnaround was completed for westbound trucks that officials hoped would lessen the strikes.
Friday morning’s strike, however, happened with an eastbound truck, in the opposite direction as the trucks normally hit, Glenville Police Chief Stephen Janik said.
The latest truck, a Ryder rental box truck operated by Glenville’s Clynk Industries, struck the bridge at about 7:18 a.m., Janik said. The Road remained opened during the investigation.
Janik identified the driver as Lamont Bailey, 26, of Schenectady.
Bailey told police he was panicked by traffic behind him and thought he could make it, Janik said.
Bailey was cited for a town code violation for failure to adhere to low bridge warning and for violating state vehicle and traffic law for failing to obey a traffic control device.
The state announced last week the completion of its first phase designed to prevent trucks from striking the bridge.
The project, on the westbound approach to the low bridge, consisted of a half-circle turnaround area on both sides of the street, giving overheight vehicles too tall to pass under the 10-foot, 11-inch bridge ample room to turn around before striking the structure. Construction began last month.
In addition to the turnaround area, the project created three parking spaces for the town’s nearby nature preserve. Stripping for the spaces is expected to be completed in the coming weeks, according to the state.
Bridge strikes have been a frequent occurrence along Glenridge Road for years, prompting safety concerns from state and local officials and leading to hours-long road closures while crews work to dislodge stuck vehicles and clean up debris.
Last year, DOT unveiled a series of immediate and long-term plans to reduce the number of bridge strikes, including the installation of flashing beacons to supplement the 14 signs already in place warning drivers of the low bridge.
The department is also in the process of designing a detection system that would trip whenever an overheight vehicle passes through, causing a pair of electronic messaging boards to display a warning that the vehicle is too tall to pass under the bridge and send a message to DOT’s Transportation Management System.
Categories: News, Schenectady County, Scotia Glenville