Bold yellow-and-black signage added to the Talbot Street underpass nearly two years ago is doing little to curb how many oversized trucks crash into the bridge each year.
That’s according to a staff report going to the Civic Works Committee next Wednesday, which outlines raising the bridge, lowering the road, or adding even more signage as potential solutions to the problem.
“The bridge is commonly known as ‘the can opener’ here in town,” said Ward 13 Coun. Tanya Park, who said she’d like to add signage to warn drivers of the posted 3.3-metre clearance for the underpass until other solutions can be discussed with CP Rail.
The report is going before city hall for information purposes, but Park says staff are taking the matter seriously and she expects a reasonably quick turnaround.
On August 20, 2015, the city added enhanced warning signage around the underpass. There are currently four signs cautioning drivers heading south on Talbot Street, and nine signs cautioning drivers heading north.
According to the report, the number of oversized trucks bashing into the bridge remained largely unchanged after the signs were added. There were five crashes in 2013, seven crashes in both 2014 and 2015, and five crashes in 2016.
“It’s kind of an ‘event’ that happens,” said Ashley Grieve, laughing. Grieve works at Mortgage Teachers, a business in the nearby plaza on the corner of Talbot Street and Oxford Street.
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“Sometimes they don’t all the way hit the bridge… they get halfway down onto Talbot, and they stop and they have to reverse backwards, which is a little troublesome with the traffic. We hear… a lot of honking from our door.”
Grieve adds that each time there’s a crash, she has to contact clients scheduled for appointments and give them an alternate route to get to the building.
Jane Mitchell works for InStyle Hair Design and Spa in the same plaza, and echoed a similar sentiment — regular traffic jams caused by underpass crashes are an annoyance to her customers.
Park plans to ask city staff whether a hanging sign is a viable option.
“It’s a very practical way of advising some drivers that, “Hey, you’re going to get stuck if you go any further, so you might want to turn around.”
The report says raising the problematic bridge would require the construction of a new train bridge spanning Oxford Street and the Thames River while lowering Talbot would jeopardize the underpass’s stability and hamper utilities below ground.
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