Detectors Installed To Prevent Big Rigs From Hitting Low Bridges On Long Island
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- New technology is being installed on Long Island to prevent big rigs from hitting bridges and overpasses.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo says $4.3 million is being spent to install "over-height vehicle detectors" at 13 locations in Nassau and Suffolk counties.
"It's like an infrared beam, basically, that is set at a height," explained New York State Department of Transportation regional director Joe Brown. "So let's say it's nine feet. Any vehicle that exceeds nine feet breaks that beam, and we have a very large sign on the ramp. So as they get onto the ramp after they've broken the beam, the sign lights up all the bells and whistles and tells them to stop."
A camera linked to the DOT's regional traffic management center will also record the incident.
Tractor trailers, commercial vehicles, school buses and other tall vehicles are not allowed on New York State parkways.
As WCBS 880's Sophia Hall reported, parts of the Northern State Parkway were constructed about 90 years ago, and its low bridges aren't tall enough to accommodate modern big rigs.
Still, more than 100 times every year, semi-trucks drive onto state parkways, and some end up causing traffic nightmares.