Crime & Safety

Truck Carrying Frozen Fruit Bars Gets Stuck Under Purchase Street Bridge

The truck was stuck for nearly an hour, closing traffic on a section of Purchase Street.

A truck carrying frozen treats got stuck under the Purchase Street Bridge this afternoon after the driver failed to see the bridge's 10' 7" clearance sign.

The front end of the truck, owned by Cassata Trucking Company, became lodged under the bridge shortly before 1 p.m. Traffic was closed on Purchase Street between Purdy Avenue and Highland Road for about an hour while authorities tried to remove the vehicle.

Officers from MTA Police and its emergency unit were on the scene, using a buzz saw, sledgehammer and crow bar to pry pieces of the truck from under the bridge.

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The driver, 43-year-old Agustin Hiciano of Queens, was on his way to deliver a shipment of All Natural Gourmet Frozen Fruit Bars when his GPS led him off the interstate and into Rye, he said. Luckily, the frozen treats were being kept cool in a freezer inside the truck while authorities tried to remove the vehicle.

Hiciano's 11 foot high truck made it about three quarters of the way under until its front end became lodged underneath the bridge, which is owned by the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

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Hiciano said he did not see the clearance sign.

MTA Police and Hannigan Trucking Company from Port Chester worked for about an hour to remove the truck. Authorities first let the air out of the truck's tires and then used a buzz saw and sledgehammer to remove large aluminum pieces of the vehicle.

The towing company then attached wires to the back of the truck, slowly pulling it from underneath the bridge. After the truck was removed, several beams under the bridge were visibly bent.

Thursday's incident is one of many involving truck hits on the bridge. In January, a 53-foot trailer got stuck under the bridge after its driver, who was headed to New Jersey to pick up a load of dry packaged goods, also said he didn't see the clearance sign. His 13' 6" tall truck was stuck for more than one hour and he was issued a $483 fine and given a date to appear in Rye City Court.

Hiciano was also given a ticket, though he didn't disclose the amount, and will have to appear in court at a later date.

Truck strikes are a common occurrence for bridges in Westchester County. King Street Bridge in nearby Rye Brook is the most hit bridge in the state. It has had more than three stuck strikes so far this year, and nine strikes in 2009.

In 2009, Westchester County Police – who patrol the Hutchinson River Parkway, Bronx River Parkway, Saw Mill River Parkway and the Cross County Parkway – dealt with 54 bridge strikes. In 2008, they dealt with 46, nearly one bridge strike a week.

The GPS rationale is the most common reason cited by truck drivers who hit bridges in Westchester, with most saying they were following the device's directions and did not see the clearance sign.

However, bridge strikes may not end anytime soon because the problem is too costly to fix.

MTA spokesman Dan Brucker told Rye Patch in April that in addition to clearer signs, the best way to avoid these truck hits would be to have the road itself take a dip under the tracks to give more clearance. However, given the state's current economic constraints, that seems highly unlikely.

"I don't know of any incidence where the level of the track was raised, not only would the cost be astronomical, I can't even calculate the cost –train stations nearby [would have] to start rebuilding that entire station," Brucker said in April. "It is simply not doable and I have never known it to be done."

The only fix for this problem is to improve signage, which hasn't been done on the Purchase Street Bridge since January's incident. Authorities could also lobby the state to pass legislation—which Assemblyman George Latimer has recently called for, arguing that better signage would be the most cost-efficient and easiest solution. Other ideas include raising fines and providing insurers with possible incentives to get commercial GPS systems into trucks. 


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