KANSAS CITY, Mo — It's a punchline for a lot of people in Kansas City, Missouri, sayings like, "the Independence Avenue bridge strikes again."
"The truck eating bridge, I've actually heard a couple of times," said Michael Hauser, who lives near the notorious bridge in Northeast KCMO.
At one point in 2020, three tractor trailer trucks fell victim to the bridge in one week, just three of the many instances over the years.
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As much as it's become satire, there's a reason why Hauser doesn't think it's funny.
"I'm homeless," he said. "I'm staying in abandoned buildings, shelters — the strip of the avenue trying to figure it out."
It's a railroad bridge, but for some people it's also a home.
"At least 10 times I can count it's not been cleared and a semi hit it or a big truck went right into it," he said.
Since 2020, the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department has taken at least 40 reports for trucks crashing into the 12-foot clearance bridge between Wilson and White Avenues.
Nine of the truck crashes happened this year, but the issues with the bridge go back decades.
KCMO announced one year ago their plans to install warning curtains for the bridge.
The curtains will hang on both sides and they will alert a driver in advance if they won't clear the bridge. Crews started working this week.
Drivers already have several warnings, including flashing lights and clearance signs.
The Kansas City Terminal Railway, which owns the bridge, worked with the Missouri Department of Transportation years ago to reroute U.S. 24 traffic away from Independence Avenue.
"To be honest, I've seen warning curtains used in other cities, and I've seen people hit them too," said Christopher Drew, a truck driver in the Kansas City-area.
Drew has been a truck driver for nine years.
"I grew up in Kansas City, so I know the area around the bridge pretty well," Drew said.
He said there's blame to go around for the crashes, but truck drivers are taught clearance on their first day.
"I call ahead. I call the shipper and the receiver and say, 'Hey, is there anything special I need to know about where you are?' Especially, if I’ve never been there before. Then, I do my map," Drew said.
Drew took KSHB 41 on a ride along and showed us his own warning system. An alert popped up before we got too close to the bridge.
If it's another warning drivers need, after a year in the works and around a $150,000 price tag, the project is almost there.
"The bridge is home. I stay on the avenue. Quit hurting my home and let's get some curtains up there," Hauser said.
Shawn Lauby, director of safety and administration for the Kansas City Terminal Railway (KCTR) said the bridge is inspected every year because it's a federal requirement. He said as often as the bridge is hit, it doesn't move.
Eight to 10 years ago, KCTR spent around $100,000 on concrete repairs to the front of the bridge that gets hit often. They installed steel reinforcement.
Last year, Lauby said, they did a trial run with sensors to detect collisions. It was designed to send a notification back to the company when a crash happened.
However, it never made it out of the trial stage because the sensors couldn’t tell the difference between trains running and a crash.
KCTR will contribute a maximum of $56,000 to the warning curtain project. KCMO estimated the installation will be complete in a couple of weeks if weather permits.
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