The town of Westwood is making plans to prevent truck crashes at a troublesome low overpass.
Crashes are frequent at the East Street Bridge overpass, where clearance is 10’6", so frequent that neighbors have stopped counting them.
The state plans to increase the clearance by three feet so trucks can get through. There are also plans to straighten out the curve that once led to head-on collisions.
Neighbors say they’ve seen so many crashes at the bridge, they’ve stopped counting.
The town administrator said from 2009 to 2015 they had 81 crashes, but the bridge remained structurally sound, so the state did not make fixing the bridge a priority.
Westwood added signs, but many trucks still tried to drive through, sheering the tops off their rigs.
The town then posted a series of videos of crashes in 2013 to draw attention to the problem. That seems to have finally paid off.
Neighbors said they are glad something is being done.
The plan includes widening the road and adding sidewalks. Construction could start as soon as 2017.
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