Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara announced passage of a bill he cosponsored in the New York State Assembly that would require the state Department of Transportation (DOT) commissioner to report information about the locations of bridge collisions, any repairs completed after a collision occurred, and efforts or recommendations to prevent future collisions in those locations. This information is intended to assist in finding innovative solutions to prevent crashes, improve safety features near bridges, better assess why these crashes are happening in certain locations, and create plans to prevent them across the state. (A.7016-B)

“Far too often, we are seeing large trucks are colliding with low bridges in towns like Rotterdam and Glenville, causing significant damage,” said Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, who is a civil engineer by trade. “Here in Schenectady County, unfortunately, it’s an issue that many local residents and commuters are very familiar with in their daily lives.”

Tractor trailer collisions in Schenectady County have increased in recent years with trucks repeatedly hitting bridges like the Campbell Road Bridge here in Rotterdam and Glenville Road Bridge in Glenville. According to Glenville Police Chief Stephen Janik, the Glenville Bridge has been hit close to 100 times since it was built with a total of 22 times in 2021 and has been hit 12 times in 2022. Each bridge collision results in motor vehicle accidents accounting for hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage and motorists stranded for long hours while the collision is cleared.

Strikes occur across the state due to a variety of factors. Most notably, awareness of bridge and elevated structure height is low amongst the driving population, including both truck and passenger car drivers. Furthermore, this problem is not unique to Schenectady County. Other bridges in the state have caused similar problems for truck drivers and motorists.

“Increased knowledge and awareness of the number of collisions is important to understand the reasons why these collisions occur,” said Assemblyman Santabarbara. “This bill will provide relevant data to help us find solutions.”