Tedisco & Koetzle Call for New Safety Signage to Stop Glenridge Road Bridge Strikes by Trucks

Senator Jim Tedisco (R,C,I,REF-Glenville) and Glenville Town Supervisor Chris Koetzle today are urging the New York State Department of Transportation to enhance public safety and reduce costs for local taxpayers by installing new safety signage near the two Glenridge Road rail bridges in Glenville to stop the frequent truck bridge strikes.

There have been 56 bridge strikes and an additional 90 near-miss back-ups of trucks that almost got caught in the bridge causing traffic jams in recent years on the state road.  This has cost Glenville taxpayers well over $50,000 for police, fire and highway personnel response.  

Yesterday, a tractor trailer truck got stuck under one of the bridges and had part of its roof ripped off. 

Tedisco and Koetzle have written to the New York State DOT Commissioner requesting additional warning signs be placed on or near the bridges to discourage trucks from attempting to go through.

“As someone who travels on Glenridge Road on a daily basis, I frequently witness trucks getting stuck at one of the rail bridges, forcing our first responders to scramble to ensure public safety and address the traffic jams caused by these mishaps.  These accidents can be mitigated by better signage before trucks enter the two bridges warning them of the low ceiling and to seek an alternate route. This is not only an economic development issue for Glenville and the 49^thSenate District in terms of impact on local taxpayers and traffic tie-ups on this busy connector between Glenville and Clifton Park, it’s also a public safety matter because heaven-forbid a truck gets stuck under the bridge and its roof goes flying into the windshield of an oncoming automobile. I hope the DOT installs better signage to help prevent a tragedy from occurring,” said Senator Jim Tedisco.

“Enough is enough. It’s time that the state and CP Rail address this serious public safety issue and get proper signage to help better prevent any more potential strikes. I don’t want to hear it’s properly signed anymore because, clearly, it’s not. The taxpayers of Glenville should no longer be asked to pay for this anymore. Our police, fire and highway department are already overtaxed and this is wasting precious resources,” said Glenville Town Supervisor Chris Koetzle.