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The only place in America where a plane can fly over a car that drives over a train that goes over a truck that just storrowed
By adamg on Fri, 08/16/2019 - 8:42pm
Some time before 8:25 p.m. or so, when Dev arrived at the scene, the driver of a box truck learned his truck was no match for the Grand Junction train bridge just before the BU Bridge, where Soldiers Field Road inbound becomes Storrow Drive. The judges rate this 9/10, deducting a point because the truck did not disgorge its contents all over the road.
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Comments
But what did the truck drive over?
A turtle?
Turtles all the way down
Couldn't resist...
And cudos to Adam for the headlime.
So, apparently cleaning up all this mess on a regular basis...
is still easier than, say, putting up some laser sensors and unmistakeable flashing lights at the entrances to Storrow.
Or even just hanging a curtain of very heavy chains at a certain height, like the do at the ramps to the pike near the Seaport.
Oh ye of simple solutions that will absolutely work
http://11foot8.com/faq/
that is not a good analogy
The key difference is that the 11foot8 bridge is on a relatively low traffic road, which Storrow is not. When a driver unfamiliar with their surroundings is presented with all the stimuli on Storrow, it is not surprising that they miss the warnings. However, drivers familiar with the area *would* most likely notice if a traffic signal changed from green to red. And the truck driver would notice if the traffic in front of him, which he is focusing on, stopped. So if the lasers and flashing lights stopped the cars, they would stop the trucks. David Somers https://www.bu.edu/psych/profile/david-somers/ (who I am not personally affiliated with, although I used to be part of the BU neuroscience community) has done some excellent research related to this aspect of perception.
Yes, maybe that would only prevent 90% or 50% or 25% of storrowings. But that is still better than 0%.
Point of information
from someone who used to live in Durham - that road may be low traffic compared to Storrow, as it isn't a divided highway, but it's hardly traffic free, as that road is what any GPS in a vehicle going from Duke East Campus to the Durham Freeway will direct one onto.
The insurance for the trucks
The insurance for the trucks gets hit with cleanup costs so I doubt the state really cares all that much.
Have Storrowings increased
Does anyone know if Storrowings have increased since GPS became widespread? Too many drivers focus on it so much that they don't pay attention to signs.
previously...
Before GPS, the distraction was the panic of being on this confusing in-the-city-highway and not knowing where to go or maybe even how you got here. That can be as bad as playing Candy Crush while driving.
There's a map for that.
There's a map for that.
Sheesh.
It's technology
Internet tubes make it seem worse
Unsubstantiated gut feel
Yes - for several reasons
1. drivers use them but don't understand that they don't provide truck routes
2. due to "industry restructuring" driving pays low wages, many are new drivers, and the commercial licensing does not cover "don't use a damn phone GPS" - no course requirements for truck navigation unless you are getting DOT certification. A friend of mine teaches DOT courses and now (thanks to UHub and 11foot8) has a nice slide library to work with.
3. More random trucks delivering stuff here and there because of more people ordering delivery
4. They have become completely disconnected with the school year migration.
It just might help
It just might help if DCR would reinstall one of those yellow “LOW CLEARANCE” signs which has been long gone from the inbound side of that bridge
It's all good fun, until
It's all good fun, until somebody is maimed or killed.
How often does that happen?
Roll-overs, maybe, but these events are still "own goal" situations.
A bus carrying schoolkids hit a bridge six years ago
on Soliders Field Road, injuring 35 people, on a trip from Harvard.
USA Today story
More photos
Storrowing problem filed away in forgotten bins
When someone is eventually killed by Storrowing, the long faces will be trotted out for the press conference where top state officials will say that they had no idea about the problem and an underling simply filed away the incidents of Storrowing in bins long forgotten. That is, if there is even a format where these incidents are flagged. My guess is that most are simply noted in a standard crash report as "vehicle hit stationary object" like when a car hits a fence or pole adjacent to the road. Probably no follow-up or analysis whatsoever.
With MIT and other top engineering programs within walking distance of Storrow Drive, each Storrowing is a reflection of government knowing about a serious problem but doing nothing to address it. An abject failure on so many fronts.
Everybody is aware of the
Everybody is aware of the problem, but there are no easy solutions. Signage, chains, and other signals are already in place. Basically, there are three things left to try: lower the road, which can't be done because it would constantly flood; raise the bridges, which would be a terrible waste of resources to fix a low-priority problem; and install traffic lights with height sensors that would divert over-height vehicles before they enter, which would not be 100% effective and would be expensive to install and maintain.
Or you can just shake your fist and whine about the government. No-one pays a dime, and you get to feel superior. Everybody wins!
No chains. Just big rubber
No chains. Just big rubber mats.
This is all going to change once BU gets their redevelopment thing going and moves the Pike.
There was a close call
Remember that bus full of teens from another state visiting the colleges?
Of course, closing storrow and turning it into a light rail corridor would remove the problem entirely.
Not that it isn't going to be underwater soon anyway.
Has there ever been a double
Has there ever been a double-barreled Storrowing, i.e. two trucks stuck on the same bridge at the same time? Maybe even on the same side of the road, blocking traffic completely?