PROSPECT PARK, Pa. (CBS) – Salvatore Mini was at work on Jan. 4 when his surveillance camera captured a tractor-trailer hitting the railroad bridge outside his store.
Mini is the owner of Mini Reef, an aquarium store at Route 420 and Maryland Avenue in Prospect Park.
“That was a good hit. It was a loud bang,” Mini said. “It actually shook the building.”
The driver was able to back up, but the crash sheared off the top of the truck. The road was shut down for two hours, making it hard for customers to get to Mini’s store. Over time, those lost sales add up.
“It hurts. I mean, when you’re a small business, you depend on literally every customer who walks in that door,” Mini said. “So if I lose just one sale, I can feel it.”
The borough of Prospect Park is searching for a solution to the decades-old problem of oversize trucks hitting the railroad bridge. It creates problems for drivers and Amtrak passengers.
Prospect Park Police Chief Dave Madonna says there have been 21 bridge strikes over the last two years, despite clear signs saying the clearance is 12 feet 6 inches.
“In the vast majority of times, these are truckers who are either not paying attention to the sign or perhaps don’t even know the full height of their rig,” Madonna said.
Police cite the drivers for failing to obey signs. Then Amtrak, which owns this bridge, sends a bill to the trucking company for repairs and delays on the Northeast corridor.
“Unless you make this a no-truck street or with some kind of indicators out there, I think they’re just going to keep doing it,” Mini said.
In a statement, PennDOT said, in part, “Amtrak could possibly work with the local municipality to install a warning system to prevent substantial damage to their bridge structure.”
But Amtrak said: “Warning signs/systems upgrades are the responsibility of the road owner, not the railroad.”
“This issue intersects with federal, state and local officials here. We can’t take it on all by ourself. I think all these stakeholders need to come to the table and we need to find a solution,” Madonna said.
Radnor has a similar problem on the King of Prussia Bridge, with a clearance of just 10 feet 10 inches.
The township is in the process of installing a dangling metal sign before the bridge so that if a truck hits it, it’ll alert the driver to stop and turn around.
There are other types of warning systems out there, including infrared beams that can send a wireless signal that triggers flashing lights to alert drivers that their truck is too tall.
People in Prospect Park believe either one of these options would work.
“We’re all small businesses here on the street,” Mini said. “So it affects every one of us,” Mini said.
