NYSDOT announces new measures to prevent bridge strikes on Onondaga Lake Parkway

SALINA, N.Y. — The New York State Department of Transportation has a few “safety enhancements” in mind to prevent further truck strikes on the low CSX bridge that crosses the Onondaga Lake Parkway in the town of Salina.

One involves the entrance ramp to the parkway from northbound Interstate 81. It is currently closed to accommodate an ongoing construction project, but it will remain closed “until further notice” to limit the ability of trucks to access the Parkway (the ramp to both Old Liverpool Road and Buckley Road will be open once the construction project is done, NYSDOT noted.)

The changes also include the “temporary” reduction of traffic to one lane in each direction on the approaches to the CSX bridge, new signs and pavement markings, and upgrades to the existing over height detection system.

“Some of these new measures that we’re undertaking we believe will make it less likely for the trucks and their over-height vehicles to get on to the Parkway,” Marie Therese Dominguez, commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation, said in her remarks Friday morning. “It also going to provide additional warnings to help them avoid striking the bridge.”

Dominguez, spoke on the closed portion of the I-81 ramp at the split between the Onondaga Lake Parkway and Old Liverpool Road. Other NYSDOT officials and area state lawmakers joined Dominguez for the announcement.

The NYSDOT commissioner said she was visiting the area a few weeks ago to look at the bridge, and within a few hours of her visit, another truck hit the bridge.

“It was struck by a truck that should’ve never been on the Parkway. Trucks aren’t allowed on the parkway,” she noted. “The bottom line is that there have been too many trucks illegally accessing the parkway.”

Also known as State Route 370, Onondaga Lake Parkway is located within Onondaga Lake Park and runs along the northern shore of Onondaga Lake, parallel to Old Liverpool Road, between the Interstate 81 interchange and the Village of Liverpool.

The CSX-owned railroad bridge near the midpoint of the parkway has a posted clearance of 10 feet 9 inches and has been subject to frequent collisions with over-height vehicles, including at least six so far in 2023, NYSDOT said in a news release.

The new enhancements seek to “augment” the nearly 50 countermeasures currently in place along both sides of the bridge. They include signs, flashing beacons, pavement markings, variable message signs, and an electronic over-height vehicle detection system.