RR Bridge over Onondaga Lake Parkway

I heard over the radio around 7a.m. this morning that the State is proposing to ban all commercial Trucks and Buses from using the parkway no other details were released other than this.

Syracuse, N.Y. -- The state will ban all commercial vehicles from Onondaga Lake Parkway in response to a crash that killed four people a year ago when a Megabus slammed into a low railroad bridge there.

The ban — the effective date has not been decided — will reroute 3,000 vehicles a day to Old Liverpool Road, a state Department of Transportation official said. Full story here:

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/ ... ehicl.html

It would take a lot of fill to raise that bridge enough to make a difference - I'd guess a mile or more in each direction.

Forget raising the bridge, the cost is far too much, and subsequent roadbed gradient changes may even effect the level crossing of Old Liverpool Rd.. They're on the right path atleast. making Old Liverpool rd, State Rt 370, banning comercial traffic from the Parkway, permanetly reducing the speed to 45mph (still too high in my book). One thing I've suggested, is to completely disconnect the Parkway with Rt 81 access ramps. The vast majority of these incidents have occured with trucks, and busses coming off the interstate. Most excessive speeding, roadrage events, aggressive drivers I have seen, exit towards the Rt 81 ramp southbound or come flying down the Rt 81 ramp onto the parkway. Combining that with redesigning the intersection of Old Liverpool rd, with the Parkway in Liverpool, into a 90 degree right turn, instead of the blended curve, would focus most truck traffic to stay straight towards Old Liverpool rd, and making the Parkway a less appealing choice for those in an excessive hurry. Just my thoughts.

from what I read in the Post Standered (Syracuse News Paper) the state plans to put a height detector similar to what CSX has for trains going out the East End of DeWitt Yard on the Boston Line. If a semi or Bus trip the lazer beam it is supposed to trigger a flashing light and and a sign to tell the driver to stop in turn it also sends a notice to 911 and a Police Car will be Dispatched to the area.

scharnhorst wrote:from what I read in the Post Standered (Syracuse News Paper) the state plans to put a height detector similar to what CSX has for trains going out the East End of DeWitt Yard on the Boston Line. If a semi or Bus trip the lazer beam it is supposed to trigger a flashing light and and a sign to tell the driver to stop in turn it also sends a notice to 911 and a Police Car will be Dispatched to the area.

but will that make driver to come to a stop??? that's big question!

sd80mac wrote:

scharnhorst wrote:from what I read in the Post Standered (Syracuse News Paper) the state plans to put a height detector similar to what CSX has for trains going out the East End of DeWitt Yard on the Boston Line. If a semi or Bus trip the lazer beam it is supposed to trigger a flashing light and and a sign to tell the driver to stop in turn it also sends a notice to 911 and a Police Car will be Dispatched to the area.

but will that make driver to come to a stop??? that's big question!

I have my doubts that it would maybe the State should put a set of Spike strips that pop up out of the road when the lazer gets triped.

The majority of long haul and independent truck drivers have little common sense to begin with anyways and or can't read a word of English! I worked on a shipping floor for a few years at a ware house that used to get a lot of Independent truckers. The two big ones I always had trouble with were one's that spoke Spanish (Mostly drivers come from down South and Southwestern U.S.), or French-Canadian which seemed to be the bulk of the drivers coming in. On occasion we did get the stray driver that spoke Polish, Romanian, or Russian and they would come down out of Canada.

Just more bells and whistles to placate the public. But it won't stop everyone, and one is too many. Waste of funds. Spike stripes? NO, that would create a dangerous situation and potentially a wreck in it's own right. We want to prevent accidents, not create them.

Honestly as long as no more busses hit the bridge, I don't know why it's even a big deal. With that exception, no one seems to get hurt, if truckers are that dumb just fine them extra for hitting it. It probably would be easier to get trucks to stay away if you put in a weigh station and stopped every commercial vehicle and checked them out, down there.

The roadrage and other stuff that happens there, will just move up to Old Liverpool Road, because people here drive like morons, the only difference is there will be houses and people and businesses to slide off the road and hit instead of grass and trees.

lvrr325 wrote:Honestly as long as no more busses hit the bridge, I don't know why it's even a big deal. With that exception, no one seems to get hurt, if truckers are that dumb just fine them extra for hitting it. It probably would be easier to get trucks to stay away if you put in a weigh station and stopped every commercial vehicle and checked them out, down there.

The roadrage and other stuff that happens there, will just move up to Old Liverpool Road, because people here drive like morons, the only difference is there will be houses and people and businesses to slide off the road and hit instead of grass and trees.

that maybe true I do believe that Old Liverpool Road is a 4 lane road that's reduced to 40 or 45mph. The idea of a weigh or inspection station would not be a bad idea.

It is not legal to operate a bus on a parkway, so if that is the case, and the drivers are going onto a route that they shouldn't be on, then ....let the fines and penalties begin! Drivers have got to wake up. There is no excuse for not knowing. If the sign says its a parkway then you know as a driver to stay off. The only exception is the Robert Moses Pkwy in Niagara Falls NY. Its not CSX's fault that the bridge is too low. If it ever gets replaced they will fix that. But, as long as its a Parkway, then its a no fly zone for buses.

DOT should never have designated the parkway as rt 370(a truck route) in the first place. rt 370 should have been on
Old Liverpool rd from the start. how many truckers are told to get of 81 and take 370 to the Bud plant?