Another one bites the dust: Truck crashes in Olathe by going under too-short bridge
Olathe’s version of the notorious Kansas City Independence Avenue truck-eating bridge claimed another victim Thursday morning, according to police.
A box truck that was too tall tried to squeeze under a railroad bridge over West Spruce Street on Olathe’s west side.
It crashed into the bridge about 7:30 a.m. and appeared to have knocked down a steel beam that warned drivers that there was only a 11-foot-4 inch clearance, a photo the Olathe Police Department posted to X, formerly Twitter, showed.
Police temporarily closed West Spruce Street at North Kansas Aveune, which is near the Johnson County Courthouse. The road was reopened as of 9:45 a.m.
Like the Independence Avenue bridge in Kansas City, the Olathe bridge has been the site of numerous crashes involving trucks whose drivers failed to heed the warnings of the low clearance.
The route is popular for motorists who want to avoid at-grade railroad crossings at Santa Fe Street in downtown Olathe.
The crossing at Santa Fe, however, closed Thursday morning so that BNSF Railway could do maintenance work there. The railroad is also doing maintenance work at the Park, Loula and Elm street crossings. The crossings are expected to be closed until 5 p.m. Friday.
The detour around the work at the Santa Fe crossing, which was approved city traffic engineers, sends traffic south to Dennis Avenue, said Sgt. John Moncayo, a spokesman for the Olathe Police Department.
The detour is not sending drivers near the area so it did not play a factor in the morning’s crash, he said.
While there is a Facebook page for the bridge, it has not been updated since 2021.
Signs alert approaching drivers the bridge has a low clearance, according to Google Maps Street View images from May. Also, there are a yellow signs that warn drivers they are overheight when a yellow light on the bridge is flashing.
There are also signs that indicating that trucks are banned on that stretch of road.
This story was originally published September 14, 2023 at 11:12 AM.
