For just zero dollars a day, you can not hit a bridge
September 2, 2023 3:58 PM Subscribe
This Labor Day Weekend, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation has an important message for people moving to Boston.
Boston.com provides further explanation, for those lucky enough to not know what "Storrow" means when it's a verb.
Boston.com provides further explanation, for those lucky enough to not know what "Storrow" means when it's a verb.
Ann Arbor has a similar problem bridge and moving trucks to go along with it
posted by JoeXIII007 at 4:26 PM on September 2, 2023
posted by JoeXIII007 at 4:26 PM on September 2, 2023
When my wife and I moved back to my tiny, very old hometown of St. Augustine, Florida after our older daughter was born, we spent the first couple months in town living in a cute little apartment in the heart of the downtown historic district that was perfect except that the unit above ours was occupied by a college kid named Cody. Cody was perfectly sweet and kind but was also kind of dopey and loud in the way that many 22 year olds are, which occasionally sucked for us as we struggled to keep our toddler daughter asleep at night.
As luck would have it though, we moved in to the apartment in April, and Cody's college graduation was in May, so by the end of the second month, after hosting a profoundly obnoxious graduation party, Cody was ready to pack up and move on to greener pastures. His family showed up one Saturday with a big box truck and they loaded all of his crappy college-kid furniture up and drove away. About a block and a half. And then proceeded to get the truck jammed up under the overhanging balcony of a 400-year old house. Seems they'd forgotten to ask the city permission to bring the truck in (which is required, and which the city would not have granted because it was too big to fit, as they found out), so within a few minutes the whole scene was swarming with police, fire, city officials, tourists, residents, you name it. It was still stuck there the next morning when I left to take my daughter to school.
To this day in our house, any time someone sails off to do a thing without giving it any forethought and then completely fucks it up in a completely predictable way, we call that going "Maximum Cody."
posted by saladin at 4:40 PM on September 2, 2023 [56 favorites]
As luck would have it though, we moved in to the apartment in April, and Cody's college graduation was in May, so by the end of the second month, after hosting a profoundly obnoxious graduation party, Cody was ready to pack up and move on to greener pastures. His family showed up one Saturday with a big box truck and they loaded all of his crappy college-kid furniture up and drove away. About a block and a half. And then proceeded to get the truck jammed up under the overhanging balcony of a 400-year old house. Seems they'd forgotten to ask the city permission to bring the truck in (which is required, and which the city would not have granted because it was too big to fit, as they found out), so within a few minutes the whole scene was swarming with police, fire, city officials, tourists, residents, you name it. It was still stuck there the next morning when I left to take my daughter to school.
To this day in our house, any time someone sails off to do a thing without giving it any forethought and then completely fucks it up in a completely predictable way, we call that going "Maximum Cody."
posted by saladin at 4:40 PM on September 2, 2023 [56 favorites]
The Storrow bridge is in good company. Australia's got a few shocker bridges like that, including the infamous Montague Street Bridge in Melbourne. It has a tracker and all.
Here in Brissie we have the Pine Street Bridge at a terrifying 2.8 meters, and I hold my breath going under that one even in a sedan. It's a rail bridge so it feels far, far lower than it actually is for some reason. There's a few holy terrors at Milton, too, just off Milton Rd which is a serious thoroughfare and trucks are often stuck at peak, in peak traffic, for hours. The Park Rd Rail Bridge is probably the worst of our inner city bridges, at a smidge over 3m. Catches hire trucks all the time, and the odd professional driver too.
I understand underskilled and overenthusiastic hire truck drivers getting wedged, but I'm always amazed at professional drivers who get caught out. There's a fairly reasonable rail bridge not far from one of the local schools that is regularly struck by professional drivers. It's 4.7m and has warning booms on all access points - like you can't get to the bridge without grazing the booms first. But we still get she'll-be-right pro drivers who somehow think their expertise trumps the laws of physics, and they hit the bridge with astonishing frequency. There was even a cyclist killed after a truck hit the bridge and rolled a few years back, crushing him. But we still get them rolling on through. Most recent was a dude carrying scaffolds, caught the bridge and scattered - not dumped, scattered - the load on the road. It's a miracle no one was hurt, it's all schoolkids through the morning and a lot of pedestrians all day too.
posted by Jilder at 5:38 PM on September 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
Here in Brissie we have the Pine Street Bridge at a terrifying 2.8 meters, and I hold my breath going under that one even in a sedan. It's a rail bridge so it feels far, far lower than it actually is for some reason. There's a few holy terrors at Milton, too, just off Milton Rd which is a serious thoroughfare and trucks are often stuck at peak, in peak traffic, for hours. The Park Rd Rail Bridge is probably the worst of our inner city bridges, at a smidge over 3m. Catches hire trucks all the time, and the odd professional driver too.
I understand underskilled and overenthusiastic hire truck drivers getting wedged, but I'm always amazed at professional drivers who get caught out. There's a fairly reasonable rail bridge not far from one of the local schools that is regularly struck by professional drivers. It's 4.7m and has warning booms on all access points - like you can't get to the bridge without grazing the booms first. But we still get she'll-be-right pro drivers who somehow think their expertise trumps the laws of physics, and they hit the bridge with astonishing frequency. There was even a cyclist killed after a truck hit the bridge and rolled a few years back, crushing him. But we still get them rolling on through. Most recent was a dude carrying scaffolds, caught the bridge and scattered - not dumped, scattered - the load on the road. It's a miracle no one was hurt, it's all schoolkids through the morning and a lot of pedestrians all day too.
posted by Jilder at 5:38 PM on September 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
I think current mapping apps/sites have a lot to answer for. Google Maps lets me choose to avoid tolls or highways, but there's no option to steer clear of low bridges.
I really feel for the out-of-towners in their rental vans.
Storrow is a major thoroughfare in Boston.
I remember one drive where I took the last turnoff before the on-ramp. Google Maps rerouted me - to another Storrow entrance. I know the area well enough to ignore Google's guidance and take the overland route, but anyone less familiar with Boston roads would be stuck - possibly quite literally.
posted by cheshyre at 6:03 PM on September 2, 2023 [8 favorites]
I really feel for the out-of-towners in their rental vans.
Storrow is a major thoroughfare in Boston.
I remember one drive where I took the last turnoff before the on-ramp. Google Maps rerouted me - to another Storrow entrance. I know the area well enough to ignore Google's guidance and take the overland route, but anyone less familiar with Boston roads would be stuck - possibly quite literally.
posted by cheshyre at 6:03 PM on September 2, 2023 [8 favorites]
but there's no option to steer clear of low bridges.
...and this is especially weird/irksome because the long-haul trucker atlas is a thing that has existed for literally decades. Explicitly coding the height of every bridge/overpass. Decades.
We really are doomed to recapitulate every stupid decision ever made and then agonizingly crawl towards the correct solution that's been known for years, aren't we?
(Also, as I have said before, man, telephone poles tear shit off like it was never even there. Bridges can just vaporize your bank account, so always get the extra insurance when you're driving a truck in an unfamiliar city. As much insurance as you can possibly afford, because it really blows to return a truck with, like, half of the back missing.)
posted by aramaic at 6:12 PM on September 2, 2023 [14 favorites]
...and this is especially weird/irksome because the long-haul trucker atlas is a thing that has existed for literally decades. Explicitly coding the height of every bridge/overpass. Decades.
We really are doomed to recapitulate every stupid decision ever made and then agonizingly crawl towards the correct solution that's been known for years, aren't we?
(Also, as I have said before, man, telephone poles tear shit off like it was never even there. Bridges can just vaporize your bank account, so always get the extra insurance when you're driving a truck in an unfamiliar city. As much insurance as you can possibly afford, because it really blows to return a truck with, like, half of the back missing.)
posted by aramaic at 6:12 PM on September 2, 2023 [14 favorites]
It's the Sarah McLachlan music in the background that really does it for me.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 6:29 PM on September 2, 2023 [16 favorites]
posted by ActingTheGoat at 6:29 PM on September 2, 2023 [16 favorites]
Last Saturday I went to an electronic noise session at the Center for New Music here in San Francisco. After over two hours of said noise I walked out into to the street. Across the way a very large van was pulling into the entrance of an underground parking garage in a new building. It passed under a big yellow pipe labeled 8 Foot Clearance, loudly scrapping the roof of the van. Then it proceeded to jam itself under a concrete ceiling over the ramp down to the garage below. This set off loads of loud alarms. This was a fitting conclusion to my concert experience. Two morals to this story: a) Art can be found in the real world and 2) people don’t read the fucking signs.
posted by njohnson23 at 6:30 PM on September 2, 2023 [25 favorites]
posted by njohnson23 at 6:30 PM on September 2, 2023 [25 favorites]
Shout out to the OG Can-Opener Bridge in Durham, NC.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 6:57 PM on September 2, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 6:57 PM on September 2, 2023 [11 favorites]
Google Maps lets me choose to avoid tolls or highways, but there's no option to steer clear of low bridges.
SERIOUSLY. I drove our moving van from DC to the Boston area a few years ago, and in Connecticut I ended up on a road I absolutely should not have been on - there'd been construction at the entrance and the "no trucks" sign was either blocked or removed. I was lucky enough to realize (thanks to lots of gesticulation from drivers as they passed) and catch an exit before I got caught, but it was a near thing with some of those bridges. And then I had to ask for help finding the interstate, because google maps would tell me NOTHING other than to turn around and get back on that road I shouldn't be on. For the next 40 goddamn miles.
posted by solotoro at 7:10 PM on September 2, 2023 [7 favorites]
SERIOUSLY. I drove our moving van from DC to the Boston area a few years ago, and in Connecticut I ended up on a road I absolutely should not have been on - there'd been construction at the entrance and the "no trucks" sign was either blocked or removed. I was lucky enough to realize (thanks to lots of gesticulation from drivers as they passed) and catch an exit before I got caught, but it was a near thing with some of those bridges. And then I had to ask for help finding the interstate, because google maps would tell me NOTHING other than to turn around and get back on that road I shouldn't be on. For the next 40 goddamn miles.
posted by solotoro at 7:10 PM on September 2, 2023 [7 favorites]
Low bridge you say? Not gonna catch many people out given that it hasn't been the main road in nearly 100 years, but I'm surprised modern trucks manage to fit. That thing seemed tiny in a Honda Accord, much less an old Lincoln. I'm pretty sure the trunk-mounted whip antenna for the mobile phone in granddad's car hit that thing more than a few times. He always liked to take the back roads.
I do appreciate the contrast with the bridge that carries the new new road over the valley such a short distance away.
posted by wierdo at 7:29 PM on September 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
I do appreciate the contrast with the bridge that carries the new new road over the valley such a short distance away.
posted by wierdo at 7:29 PM on September 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
Personally, my brian stores shaving the top of a truck off by bridge as a very possible personal fear that I have for no real reason. I cannot see how stopping before a questionable bridge even if there is lots of traffic would be worse than going through and finding out the hard way.
posted by AlexiaSky at 7:58 PM on September 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by AlexiaSky at 7:58 PM on September 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
Well, as far as I've generally seen in the US, bridge heights are usually posted well before an intersection before you'd encounter the bridge, and you're supposed to know the height of the vehicle you're driving. So there SHOULD be ample warning for people.
But they don't pay attention. Or they don't know the height of their vehicle. Or they think somehow the posted height is for scare purposes only and isn't true.
It takes forever, but if I'm driving a vehicle on a road and I'm not sure if its height and bridges seem low, I'd take every exit and then entrance ramp to get around them that I could possibly manage.
posted by hippybear at 8:18 PM on September 2, 2023
But they don't pay attention. Or they don't know the height of their vehicle. Or they think somehow the posted height is for scare purposes only and isn't true.
It takes forever, but if I'm driving a vehicle on a road and I'm not sure if its height and bridges seem low, I'd take every exit and then entrance ramp to get around them that I could possibly manage.
posted by hippybear at 8:18 PM on September 2, 2023
To be fair, the posted heights are not precise, at least not in the sense that you can say a truck that is nominally 8' 9" tall will certainly fit under a bridge signed as being 8' 11". Tire pressure and the loading of the truck can vary the height by several inches. Indeed, in minor incidents, partially deflating the tires is often enough to get the truck unstuck.
Even if you do measure the truck empty before setting out, geometry is a bitch and will cheerfully fuck you. There may be 8' 11" between the road and the bridge, but your truck is not a point. If the road dips to go under the bridge, the effective clearance will be lower in a way that depends on the wheelbase of the specific truck. Plus, the clearance is different for different lanes, so maybe you did get away with ignoring the sign going one way, but end up doing the can opener routine on the way back through.
Despite these complications, it's also true that the vast majority of the time people don't get their shit wedged because of any of these confounding factors, they get wedged under bridges because they aren't paying any goddamned attention. Strong evidence for this is that even active warning systems with flashing lights and noisemakers that activate only when an over height vehicle approaches the bridge don't manage to stop the carnage.
posted by wierdo at 8:36 PM on September 2, 2023 [11 favorites]
Even if you do measure the truck empty before setting out, geometry is a bitch and will cheerfully fuck you. There may be 8' 11" between the road and the bridge, but your truck is not a point. If the road dips to go under the bridge, the effective clearance will be lower in a way that depends on the wheelbase of the specific truck. Plus, the clearance is different for different lanes, so maybe you did get away with ignoring the sign going one way, but end up doing the can opener routine on the way back through.
Despite these complications, it's also true that the vast majority of the time people don't get their shit wedged because of any of these confounding factors, they get wedged under bridges because they aren't paying any goddamned attention. Strong evidence for this is that even active warning systems with flashing lights and noisemakers that activate only when an over height vehicle approaches the bridge don't manage to stop the carnage.
posted by wierdo at 8:36 PM on September 2, 2023 [11 favorites]
My wife and I had this very conversation driving down Storrow Dr. on Sept. 1st whilst moving our daughter into the dorms at Wentworth Institute of Technology. It is so clearly labeled and yet trucks still get stuck with annoying frequency.
posted by AJScease at 8:59 PM on September 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by AJScease at 8:59 PM on September 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
Height restriction signage is posted at all Storrow Drive access points.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:22 PM on September 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by kirkaracha at 9:22 PM on September 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
I drove a rented moving truck precisely once, from Montreal to Manhattan over a very hot summer's day in 2006. Had a ton of trouble getting into the city via a route that was suitable for the vehicle. Never again.
posted by sudasana at 4:36 AM on September 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by sudasana at 4:36 AM on September 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
I think current mapping apps/sites have a lot to answer for.
Storrowing was absolutely a thing before smartphones and Google Maps.
posted by explosion at 5:25 AM on September 3, 2023 [4 favorites]
Storrowing was absolutely a thing before smartphones and Google Maps.
posted by explosion at 5:25 AM on September 3, 2023 [4 favorites]
Not wanting to be left out, in the UK a surprising number of professional bus drivers try to take double-decker buses under low bridges. Sadly this is less chucklesome than rental trucks getting sardine-canned, as people on the upper deck are inevitably injured. Sometimes the drivers go to jail.
posted by Hogshead at 5:45 AM on September 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Hogshead at 5:45 AM on September 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
Hilarious tweet 😄
I recently watched a lengthy video compilation of trucks hitting and getting stuck under bridges that were obviously too low, despite the posted signs stating the clearance. It's apparently not rare. I remember seeing a truck wedged under a bridge in my hometown in Ohio one time, but thankfully it wasn't a regular occurrence there.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 6:23 AM on September 3, 2023
I recently watched a lengthy video compilation of trucks hitting and getting stuck under bridges that were obviously too low, despite the posted signs stating the clearance. It's apparently not rare. I remember seeing a truck wedged under a bridge in my hometown in Ohio one time, but thankfully it wasn't a regular occurrence there.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 6:23 AM on September 3, 2023
I saw someone try to drive a UHaul into underground parking and smashed the heck out of the top of the door and the top of the truck.
The reason I saw it was I was standing in a line outside with a couple hundred people, and the collective gasp and "OOOOHHHH" was so much worse than if the driver did it with nobody around.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:33 AM on September 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
The reason I saw it was I was standing in a line outside with a couple hundred people, and the collective gasp and "OOOOHHHH" was so much worse than if the driver did it with nobody around.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:33 AM on September 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
God, I love those OG Can-Opener bridge video compilations. I just cackle like a witch who's just been told a pretty princess had an heir and I am on my way to curse them.
posted by Kitteh at 8:59 AM on September 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Kitteh at 8:59 AM on September 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
One way to prevent further Storrowings would be if they got rid of Storrow drive altogether and reverted it back to the road-free parkland it was supposed to be.
posted by delicious-luncheon at 10:12 AM on September 3, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by delicious-luncheon at 10:12 AM on September 3, 2023 [5 favorites]
But they don't pay attention. Or they don't know the height of their vehicle. Or they think somehow the posted height is for scare purposes only and isn't true.
In Connecticut we've got the scenic Merritt Parkway, a tree-lined alternative to the interstate, featuring lovely, historic bridges. And people driving 80 mph but putting that aside, this dedicated photographer has an impressively thorough album.
Trucks are not allowed on the Merritt. The bridges are too low. And it's rather narrow and always having work done so inevitably there'll be a stretch of parkway where instead of a painted line & a wee bit of oopsy-daisy room on the shoulder, you have concrete barriers lined up on that outside lane line making everyone feel a bit claustrophobic especially with all those massive SUVs and the less confident drivers subconsciously edging towards the middle so the absolute last thing you need is people who've never driven a uhaul before thinking they somehow don't count as a commercial vehicle.
Err but really, it's about the bridges. They are nice. Do not ram trucks into the bridges.
posted by Baethan at 10:29 AM on September 3, 2023
In Connecticut we've got the scenic Merritt Parkway, a tree-lined alternative to the interstate, featuring lovely, historic bridges. And people driving 80 mph but putting that aside, this dedicated photographer has an impressively thorough album.
Trucks are not allowed on the Merritt. The bridges are too low. And it's rather narrow and always having work done so inevitably there'll be a stretch of parkway where instead of a painted line & a wee bit of oopsy-daisy room on the shoulder, you have concrete barriers lined up on that outside lane line making everyone feel a bit claustrophobic especially with all those massive SUVs and the less confident drivers subconsciously edging towards the middle so the absolute last thing you need is people who've never driven a uhaul before thinking they somehow don't count as a commercial vehicle.
Err but really, it's about the bridges. They are nice. Do not ram trucks into the bridges.
posted by Baethan at 10:29 AM on September 3, 2023
There may be 8' 11" between the road and the bridge, but your truck is not a point. If the road dips to go under the bridge, the effective clearance will be lower in a way that depends on the wheelbase of the specific truck.
The ol’ Reverse Edmund Fitzgerald
posted by cortex at 12:09 PM on September 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
The ol’ Reverse Edmund Fitzgerald
posted by cortex at 12:09 PM on September 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
Im I misremenbering that Google Maps used to have a 'truck route' option or something similar and they discontinued it?
posted by Jon_Evil at 12:23 PM on September 3, 2023
posted by Jon_Evil at 12:23 PM on September 3, 2023
I do know if you go into any truck stop in the country you can get map books and probably GPS modules that give you truck routes instead of normal tourist travel maps.
posted by hippybear at 1:16 PM on September 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 1:16 PM on September 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
I don't know if it's still true, but way back when CoPilot was way more expensive than Garmin Mobile.
posted by wierdo at 3:34 PM on September 3, 2023
posted by wierdo at 3:34 PM on September 3, 2023
Every solution breeds new problems: Trucks keep backing into Chicago house, can’t fit through low underpass.
posted by kgander at 7:59 AM on September 4, 2023
posted by kgander at 7:59 AM on September 4, 2023
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