HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA — PennDOT recently put up advisory signs on Interstate 81 warning tractor-trailer drivers to stay off Front Street. The signs target a years-long problem of trucks cutting through the city and striking a low-clearance Amtrak bridge near UPMC Harrisburg.
The bridge clears just 12 feet 6 inches. Drivers who ignore the warnings risk crushing their trailers on impact. PennDOT mounted the signs beneath exit signs on I-81 to intercept trucks before they turn onto Front Street — a riverside road that runs directly toward the Amtrak bridge used to turn trains.
State Rep. Nate Davidson pushed for the signs after years of complaints from Harrisburg residents. “We’re just trying to find a way for the residents of Uptown and Midtown Harrisburg to cross a little safer and not have to worry about a big tractor-trailer cutting through the city,” Davidson said. “And also, by the way, they go downtown, and they hit the bridge, and they clog up traffic at the downtown of Harrisburg as well.”
Nearby resident Erica Bryce runs a bed and breakfast two miles south of the bridge. She has watched the problem play out firsthand. She once flagged down a driver herself and asked why he was on Front Street. “Do you know that there is a clearance up ahead?” she told him. “He said no. I said, ‘Why are you on this road?’ He said, ‘I’m cutting through from 81 to 83.'”
Will the Signs Actually Work?
That remains the big question. PennDOT ruled out using clanker balls — the hanging devices used in Newark, Delaware, that physically strike overheight vehicles before they reach a bridge — citing safety concerns. The agency says drivers ultimately have to take responsibility. “They don’t pay attention to it. They’re focused on where they’re going. So, you know, this is a very difficult one. How do you stop it from happening? It’s personal behavior,” one official said.
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