Town to look into more bridge signs
By Ken Powers Community Reporter

Westborough - Chief of Police Alan Gordon and Department of Public Works Manager John Walden told the Board of Selectmen at its Feb. 13 meeting that preventing tractor-trailer trucks from getting wedged underneath the East Main Street/Route 30 railroad bridge will have to be accomplished by signage only.

"CSX, the company that owns the bridge, is not going to come in and raise it, and because of a high water table and nearby stream, you can't dig down two or three feet to make the clearance any higher," Walden said. "The only way we're going to stop trucks from getting stuck is to add more signs, bigger and further from the Continued from front page bridge."

Gordon said his department responds to three calls a week about trucks needing to be backed up because they've gotten too close to the bridge before realizing their truck is not going to fit underneath. He said trucks actually get stuck under the bridge, built in 1921, about twice a month.

CSX, Gordon said, is responsible for inspections to the bridge. Robert Sullivan, a Philadelphia-based spokesman for the Florida-based rail company, did not return messages left at his office.

"The issue is with trucks traveling eastbound on Route 30," Gordon said. "The point of no return is really Milk Street. Once they get past there, there is no easy way to turn them around. The problem is that they can't see the bridge from there, so despite the signs and warning, they proceed, thinking they're false alarms."

In an eff ort to eliminate trucks from not heeding the low bridge warnings when coming through the rotary and heading east on Route 30, Walden and Gordon presented signage suggestions.

Both men strongly recommended putting up a sign that spans the road as it blends from the rotary into Route 30. Gordon compared the sign to ones that dot Boston's Storrow Drive.

The yellow sign with black lettering, which would have a width of two feet, would

" be erected 12 feet above the pavement and be equipped with red flashing lights.

The clearance of the bridge is 12 feet, 6 inches.

Walden said trucks traveling westbound on Route 30 seldom get stuck because the bridge is visible from a much further distance with more chances, and places, to turn around.

Despite that, Walden and Gordon recommended that a low bridge sign be added to the traffic signal at the intersection of Route 30 and Lyman Street. The sign, similar to the one to be installed at the rotary but without the flashing red lights, would be positioned atop the signal.

Gordon said he is in the process of contacting the companies that make the map software that is installed in Global Positioning Systems to see if a low bridge warning can be installed in future editions of the software.

The Board of Selectmen thanked both men for their eff orts researching the various signage options and urged them to get cost estimates for the project.

Selectman George Thompson also asked Town Counsel Greg Franks to investigate what responsibility CSX has, financial or otherwise, to make sure drivers are aware of the low bridge situation.

"I know everybody says CSX isn't liable for the cost of the signs or the cost of the man hours required to get trucks unstuck when they get stuck under there," Thompson said. "but can we investigate this and determine once and for all if they do or do not have an obligation regarding this matter? And if they don't, why not?"