A highway bridge at 7 ft., 7 in. -- what could go wrong?

[profdant139]

The police said that the driver of this charter bus was not familiar with the restrictions on this parkway:

Article about bus crash late on April 8

But isn't this a design failure? If you are towing your trailer and you are from out of town, how are you supposed to know that there is this bizarre low bridge ahead of you?

Maybe there is an app that will provide a warning, but that means that unless you have a passenger with a smartphone, you either have to take your chances or try to operate the phone while towing, a really bad idea.

Seriously. What to do? Are very low bridges still around? I have rarely seen anything under 13 feet, at least out West. Maybe things are different on the East Coast??

[intheburbs]

profdant139 wrote:
intheburbs, since you have been on site, are there sufficient warning signs at each entrance, so that RV drivers are not likely to make a fatal error?

Yes, every single one, and the signs on major highways that dump onto the parkways have large/obvious signage declaring low clearance bridges and no commercial vehicles.

Bear in mind, the Parkway system is not just Long Island. It extends north of NYC into the downstate counties like Westchester, Putnam, Ulster, Orange, etc. The Taconic, Sprain, Bronx River, etc are all north of the City, and have similar height restrictions. The Taconic actually runs all the way to the Thruway (I-90) just east of Albany.

This is the entrance ramp closest to that 7' 7" bridge:


ETA: This is what the signage looks like on major highways, like the Long Island Expressway:

[captnjack]

Lynnmor wrote:
We should all have special roads that exclude the unwashed so we can drive our overpriced little car from our overpriced home to our overpaid job, and not use the public transportation system. Of course politics has nothing to do with it, no way, no how, not in the NYC area.

You forgot to mention that the public transportation is also over priced.

If you have evidence, or even an opinion, supporting the politics-based argument you should share it with us.

[profdant139]

And Steve, that's the problem -- it looks like a highway but it isn't. I think it is fine that there are roads not suitable for RVs -- just make sure that we are informed properly before we are on the on-ramp!

For example, the road from Aspen, Colorado, up toward Independence Pass has a huge sign that says something like "Trailers turn around RIGHT NOW!" And there is a big turnout to do so. Any fool who keeps going has only himself to blame.

[Lynnmor]

We should all have special roads that exclude the unwashed so we can drive our overpriced little car from our overpriced home to our overpaid job, and not use the public transportation system. Of course politics has nothing to do with it, no way, no how, not in the NYC area.

[drsteve]

The problem is that people are used to the interstate highway system and its semi-friendly bridge heights. A parkway is a divided highway with on ramps, and off ramps, and big green road signs, so to the uninitiated it looks like a modern-spec limited access highway.

[Lantley]

You guys are funny all your diatribe does not change/raise the height of the bridges on the parkways in NY. We can call them whatever we want.
The facts are NY refers to them as parkways and they have lots of low bridges to be aware of.

[mike-s]

troubledwaters wrote:

mike-s wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
And this is why it's annoying that people use terminology willy-nilly.

A parkway by definition is cars only.

Only by your definition. The definition everyone else uses goes like "a broad thoroughfare with a dividing strip or side strips planted with grass, trees, etc.". Another. And another.

And that's why it's annoying when people like you simply make things up to suit their argument while ignoring the facts.

You, with your experience and knowledge may blissfully believe that that is what the definition of a parkway is. Me, with my experiences and knowledge may believe that that is an incomplete definition at best. I would never drive down a road labeled "parkway" in anything but a car, based upon my experiences and knowledge. That's why it's really annoying when someone with a completely different experiences then my own, tries to label my experiences as false, solely based upon their own experiences. I'm sure if you googled the term, you not only found confirmations of your experience, but you also found confirmations of my experience; which you completely disregarded and settled for the more abridged version.

You're the very definition of pompous ass, believing that your personal definition outweighs that of three separate authoritative dictionaries.

[Ralph_Cramden]

troubledwaters wrote:

mike-s wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
And this is why it's annoying that people use terminology willy-nilly.

A parkway by definition is cars only.

Only by your definition. The definition everyone else uses goes like "a broad thoroughfare with a dividing strip or side strips planted with grass, trees, etc.". Another. And another.

And that's why it's annoying when people like you simply make things up to suit their argument while ignoring the facts.

You, with your experience and knowledge may blissfully believe that that is what the definition of a parkway is. Me, with my experiences and knowledge may believe that that is an incomplete definition at best. I would never drive down a road labeled "parkway" in anything but a car, based upon my experiences and knowledge. That's why it's really annoying when someone with a completely different experiences then my own, tries to label my experiences as false, solely based upon their own experiences. I'm sure if you googled the term, you not only found confirmations of your experience, but you also found confirmations of my experience; which you completely disregarded and settled for the more abridged version.

In Pittsburgh a Parkway is a 3 lane highway which comes up to a 2 lane tunnel, and you sit in bumper to bumper, stop and go traffic moving along in 3 mph spurts every morning and evening.

[profdant139]

intheburbs, since you have been on site, are there sufficient warning signs at each entrance, so that RV drivers are not likely to make a fatal error?

[intheburbs]

Born and raised Long Islander here. As soon as I saw the title of this thread, I knew it was one of the parkways.

The parkways have low bridges, tighter-radius turns, sometimes ridiculously short or even none-existent entrance/acceleration lanes, and sometimes sharp/short exit ramps that end with a stop sign about 100 feet off the road.

Everyone on the Island knows about them, a lot of folks avoid them altogether, and any professional driver should be aware of them as well, and if they aren't, I'd call that negligence.

ETA: Here's an example. Note the "generous" acceleration lanes. 😉

[Bagger97]

Wasn't that long ago p/u trucks were not allowed on the southern or northern state pkwys, period. Vans had to have windows and seats, no signs on the side. If you got to the toll booths with one a state trooper would come get ya. I remember many a 18 wheeler stuck under one of the bridges near my house, load spread all across the road.

[BurbMan]

drsteve wrote:
Ohiopyle State Park in PA has two roads serving it. One is marked "No RV's", the other is 20 miles longer. I obeyed the sign, and was glad I did the next day when we took the truck by itself down that road. It was narrow, it was steep, it had low rock overhangs sticking out over the road in a couple of spots. No place I'd want to go with the TT.

Same on Ricketts Glen SP in PA, you have to drive all the way up and around the park, but after seeing the road we avoided it was worth it!!

[Community Alumni]

Truck and RV specific GPS units are great at keeping you away from low clearances and other gotchas for high, wide, and combination vehicles. The units typically are aware of low clearances, narrow roads, steep grades, tight turns, road restrictions, etc. It's a pretty valuable tool when traveling in the northeast especially when you're unfamiliar with the region. It's also pretty handy when driving in cities across the country.

[profdant139]

Well, regardless of the disagreements, my awareness has been raised -- I now know that when driving east of the Mississippi, I will have to be vigilant about clearances. That issue was not on my radar screen until this particular accident occurred.

I suppose there are hazards out West that Eastern drivers may not be aware of -- for example, when you are driving through the desert and the road dips into an arroyo. If there is a trickle of water across the road, you need to watch out for flash flooding, even if it is sunny -- it could be raining upstream.

Back East, there would be a bridge across the dip -- but out here, the water is so intermittent that the cost of the bridge would be disproportionate to the risk.

[K_and_I]

...and I would like to know why you drive on a parkway and park on a driveway.