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Bridge continues to frustrate police, county

A notorious bridge in the southwestern tip of Oxford County has continued to be a thorn in the side of police, Oxford County and the Canadian National Railway.

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A notorious bridge in the southwestern tip of Oxford County has continued to be a thorn in the side of police, local municipalities and the Canadian National Railway.

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The low-hanging bridge on Highway 45, also known as the 17th Line, has seen seven trucks in the past 12 months hit the sacrificial beams, including two in the past week.

“I think, in light of recently, it’s been hit quite a bit. We might have to think of something more to deter trucks from going there,” said Frank Gross, Oxford County’s transportation and waste management services manager.

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A tractor-trailer collided with a railway bridge in Zorra Tuesday for the seventh time this year. (Courtesy Oxford County OPP)
A tractor-trailer collided with a railway bridge in Zorra Tuesday for the seventh time this year. (Courtesy Oxford County OPP)

While Oxford County has increased the amount of signage in the past year, the change hasn’t helped.

Gross said county staff met with representatives of CN Rail last year, who urged Oxford County – the road’s “owner” – to switch signs from largely text based to visual in case of any language barriers.

With the new signage not making as much impact as they’d hoped, Gross said another option is radar detection. The system uses radar to detect a vehicle’s height well before the bridge and then flashes lights to warn the driver.

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Gross said that system can cost between $30,000 and $50,000.

“We may have to consider implementing something next year in the 2020 budget if possible,” he said.

Other regions with low-hanging bridges have added steel arms, similar to stop lights, with signs hanging from them that are the same height as the bridge. When a driver approaches the bridge and the truck hits the sign, they’re able to stop before reaching the bridge.

That system would cost between $15,000 to $20,000 to cover both sides of the bridge.

The current setup has the county responsible for signage costs, while CN Rail bears the cost of any damage to the bridge or the sacrificial beams. The beams take the impact of the force, leaving the main bridge undamaged.

When a large truck strikes the beams or gets stuck underneath, the Oxford OPP are called while the county close the road and redirects traffic. If the beams need replacing, as they did after the recent collisions, the county closes down the stretch of road for a full day to allow that replacement.

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An email to CN Rail about the costs of the beams and labour wasn’t immediately returned.

The bridge borders Oxford and Middlesex counties and is also a direct access to Highway 401 off of Putnam Road.

The roadway is well marked with signs a kilometre beforehand that notes the maximum height vehicles can be to safely drive underneath.

“When it comes to low clearance bridges and overpasses, police never cease to be amazed at how some professional truck drivers think they can outsmart them or squeeze underneath them anyway,” OPP Const. Barry Cookson said in an email earlier this week.

Police recommend drivers pay attention to road signs, use their GPS and know the area they’re travelling in and any possible restrictions.

The collisions taking place are easily avoidable, police said, since truck drivers are either not paying attention or think they’ll be able to just fit underneath the 3.6-metre maximum height.

“This is a clear example of a preventable collision,” Oxford OPP detachment commander Insp. Tony Hymers said in an email. “A mindset of just following the GPS and ignoring the road signs has become too common an occurrence.”

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