Public Safety
DOT

Downtown Traffic Slowdown 9 to 3 on Thursday for Work on Traffic Lights, Bridge Warning System

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After Wednesday’s snow and rain, electrical contractors hired by the state Department of Transportation are expected to install a new co-ordinated system of traffic lights and something called an “over height detection system” that may have something to do with helping trucks avoid getting stuck under the railroad bridge downtown. Sunny but freezing weather — 32 degrees and below — is forecast for the town (as of Wednesday morning) on Thursday. A system of signs with lights to warn trucks that are too high for the underpass has long been in the works. (There’s one in New Canaan before the Route 106 underpass, north of Darien’s Hoyt Street.)

A news release from Darien Police Department mentions the detection system in its headline, but provides no details about it — so whatever work is done, the system may need additional work before it gets going. The news release is more about how downtown traffic might be disrupted by the project.

Public Safety
Police Car

Another Truck Strikes Railroad Overpass on Post Road

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A truck has again wedged itself under the relatively low railroad bridge over the Post Road in Darien, so police are asking drivers to avoid the intersection at Post and Tokeneke roads. The Police Department Twitter account tweeted at 2:59 p.m.:
A truck has struck the railroad bridge on Rt. 1 at Rt. 136. Please avoid the area.

Public Safety

Here We Go Again: Another Truck Smacks up Against Downtown RR Bridge

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Another truck has hit a the railroad overpass at the Post Road, something that happens at least several times a year for a very long time downtown. No injuries were reported. In a tweet posted at 3:13 p.m., Darien police were suggesting that drivers downtown seek alternate routes (Leroy Avenue seems to be the only nearby alternative). The most recent truck accident at the low bridge was on July 17. Damage done by the collisions hardly affects the bridge at all, but the tops of trucks are usually damaged severely, police have said. As Darienite.com previously reported, Darien Police Captain Don Anderson has said the Connecticut Department of Transportation has plans to install a truck-height detection system that would set off flashing lights near the bridge when any truck at too great a height approaches it.

Public Safety
Truck Underpass Darien July 17

More on That Last Truck Collision with the Downtown Railroad Bridge

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The truck that got wedged under the railroad bridge in downtown Darien on July 17 didn’t even slow down for the bridge, according to Darien Police Chief Duane Lovello. “He had a full head of steam going into the bridge,” Lovello said at a recent Darien Police Commission meeting. “This guy never saw the bridge.” The collision was only the latest in a long line of similar incidents in which trucks have hit the bridge. The truck wasn’t removed from under the bridge until after 7 a.m., meaning early commuting traffic was further slowed down that day, a Friday.