There’s a new plan that state transportation officials hope will stop the endless accidents where trucks run into the low rail bridge over Onondaga Lake Parkway. The Department of Transportation plans to further enhance warnings for any over height vehicles approaching the bridge. DOT Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez calls it another layer of safety.
“First, we’ve increased the over-height vehicle detection system along the parkway with a second set of sensors in both directions. We’ve also installed LED signs in both eastbound and westbound directions to display a ‘no truck’ symbol when an over-height vehicle is detected.” Dominguez says a public education campaign called “Check your height, know it’s right” has reduced bridge collisions here and elsewhere in the state. The Parkway bridge averaged 10 strikes annually for several years, but dipped to seven in 2024 and six in 2025. The Department of Motor Vehicles is also adding a deterrent. Commissioner Mark Schroeder says it’s part of a set of penalties against driver’s license privileges.
“Those regulatory amendments to vehicle and traffic law will assign point values to violations that previously did not have any. Violations for driving an over-height vehicle or for striking a bridge will now add eight points to someone’s driving record.”
This is far from the first attempt to find ways to end the accidents. Over the years, numerous signs, flashing lights and sensors that trigger electronic warnings were put in place. They still didn’t prevent 42 strikes in the past 5 years, most damaging the vehicle but not the bridge or any passengers. Back in 2010, four people died when a double-decker bus that got off its route struck the bridge.
