NYC confusing bridge height signs

It all doesn't matter where the height is measured from in a court of law. What matters is what the sign says. Your company can route you anyway they want but when you crash into a bridge they will take the stance that you the driver should have checked first.

I know it's almost impossible to find a route ahead of time in a place like NYC. You just have to ask other drivers if you can. Whatever you do take it very slow when you see a clearance below 14' unless you see other trucks in front of you pass safely.

Clearance signs are usually the last item to be replaced after a street or bridge is reworked. That's why you'll see inaccurate measurements. They can pave a street and take away inches and you'll never know how much. That's why you should never ever believe the bridge is higher than it really is. I used the 14' measurement but you can set your guide higher if you like. It's much better to stop and back out then to go forward and crash. Also I never called the police department because they just do not know. I've had better luck calling the fire department.

 

I use to go on the BQE all the time, I know the sign is scary. I use to run to JFK airport and into lower Manhatten. The other guys at the terminal said I could fit. Left a lump in my throat!
I always stayed in the middle. That was 14 Yrs ago though.

 

I believe that there are a few bridges in NY state that have been intentionally mislabeled by county officials to discourage truck traffic from entering the area. One that comes to mind is the bridge over the NY 63 just west of the intersection of the NY 63 and the NY 36 in Greigsville, NY, which is labelled as 12'10", but the actual clearance is 13'10".

The NY 63 is an excellent short-cut from I90e to I390s and suffers from a significant volume of truck traffic. The sings warning of the low clearance are readily recognizable as fake because their quality is very low. The font is inconsistent with the DOT's other signs and the text isn't even straight.

My safety supervisor mentioned with great annoyance that counties can do this legally ...somehow.

I used to travel that route two to thee times per week and would occasionally see a truck with far-away plates parked on the shoulder with the four-ways flashing, wondering what to do. Inevitably, another truck would be along shortly (as I mentioned, it's a high-volume short-cut) and would fly right under the bridge without a care, much to the surprise of the justifiably cautious driver on the shoulder. Some of the more ignorant drivers would jeer at them for being amateurs, but frankly I always respected those that stopped on the shoulder. I'd rather we had more drivers who second-guess their truck's ability to fit into a small space.

 

That's what I have been told also. Sounds kinda silly but is there a "norm" in NYC?

 

this probably isn't going to clarify anything but in the ny metro area most overpasses are marked at 12-10 but are 1 foot higher. In school they constantly preached that this was because 1 foot was subtracted for snow buildup or debris. During my road test, lo and behold I was headed under a 12-10 overpass and informed the examiner - the crusty old and cranky examiner - of the fact that I had enough clearance and why... he starts yelling who told you that crap, it's marked from the top of the curb at the wall not the roadway and went on and on about it. Kinda funny now but it wasn't when I was actually taking the test. Still don't know who's right but if experience counts I think this guy started working for DMV when they had horses.

 

I have been into NYC a few times, as long as you stay in the middle lane, your good. I have taken all the way into deep long island and back out, no problem, I worry more about the side streets, as alot of those are 12 10 or lower. point blank, NYC was not ever built or desgned for the big trucks of today, then again, neither was chicago or detroit, seems to be the case with alot of cities east of ol miss, get west, not so much a problem.

 

Don't ever go to Quincy, MA. Oh My God. We were there last week and our directions told us to take exit 13 on 93N then right on Victory Rd. where we were met by a low clearance sign. We squeezed under this overpass and then proceeded to the next intersection where we were supposed to turn right onto a two lane rd that had 5 ft piles of snow on each side and cars parked next to the snowpile, leaving about a 12ft road surface. Good thing we're a team cause one of us had to get out and spot while the other tried to make this turn between the parked cars without taking one out. We finally squeezed through that corner and then we arrive at another intersection where we are supposed to make a left which had a sign posted NO TRUCKS, but of course the directions did say "disregard NO TRK SGN". So we proceed only to reach another "low clearance". It didn't even bother to give us the height, just low clearance and believe me it was low. Again we squeezed through and then our next turn was another right turn which we could not make because of the piled snow and cars parked along both sides all the way to the corner. After trying to pull up and back up (one of us outside in the 15 degree weather) for about 20 min we determined it couldn't be done so we went straight hoping for a better cross street but we kept running into the same situation. Finally we managed to somehow get back to the freeway and started all over again. This time when we got to the corner we couldn't make the right turn on a couple of the cars had moved and we were able to make the corner by running over the the 5 ft snowpile with our tandems while we prayed that the trailer didn't turn over and crush the cars parked on the other side of us. Of course after we delivered our load we had to get back out and of course the first turn we had to make we could do it for the same above mentioned reasons and ended up in a residential area. Finally reached a gate to some kind of park that of course we weren't allowed into (not even to get turned around) and had to back into a business on the left side to get turned around. The funny thing was, when we were trying to manuver around corners cars would come down the street and see us and just back up and take another route, like this was an every day occurrence for them. Even in the residential area people were unaffected by this big rig practically running over their lawns, it was strange to say the least.

 

We usually hang back when we come to those "low clearances" and let another truck go through and we follow right behind them. There's usually plenty of trucks running through that do it every day and know when it's safe.

 

You can run the BQE with a big truck but like another guy said use the middle lane, where it runs under the other hiway. There is 1 underpas where you actually have to get off to run past it up by LaGaurdia airport(North) but they have alot of warning signs there, but just going to brooklyn or onto 495 no problem.

 

I Run the BQE on most my runs . You can the BQE all the way out to LIE ( long island expressway ( 495 ) but try to stayin center lane until u get about 10 or 6 miles from your exit then get in right lane .forget about turn singals just use your front mirrors -n- slowly move into the lane you need they'll give way after awhile . But BQE is good all the way out to LIE