Action on low bridge after lorry crash
Up to £10,000 has been spent on warning lorry drivers about a blackspot bridge in the Black Country.
Now council chiefs are demanding a report on what can be done to prevent lorries crashing into the Metro tram bridge in Great Bridge Road, between Tipton and Bilston, after another became wedged underneath it yesterday.
It is the second time in less than two months a vehicle has crashed into the bridge and there has been at least 20 other occasions in the last five years when a lorry has hit the 13ft tall structure.
Sandwell's neighbourhoods chief, Councillor Mahboob Hussain, said: "This has been a problem for a long time.
"We've put in new signs, we've painted the bridge, and everything possible that could have been done has been done. We are asking officers now to prepare a further report of what we can do.
"One other possibility we may look at is putting up a flashing warning sign, which is going to cost a lot of money."
Yesterday, emergency services were called to the bridge, which is owned by Travel Midland Metro just before 10.50am when the lorry, which contained non-hazardous food, became trapped.
The twisted lorry lay across the road, which was shut off by police as a recovery truck arrived to remove it. Motorists performed U-turns and found alternative routes, and trams travelling overhead had to slow down.
Great Bridge Road resident Margaret Humpage, aged 66, said: "It is happening all the while. They've put signs up, but they still come crashing down. Somebody's going to get killed before they do anything."
Wendy Donnelly, aged 34, who was with her friend Brian Webster, aged 36, said: "We were in the living room and we heard a big bang, and the flats shook. They altered the signs, but the drivers don't pay attention."
Edwin Mansell, aged 62, from Gospel Oak Road, Tipton, said: "The drivers should be able to see it, they are responsible."
Frank Winchurch, 62, of nearby Glyn Avenue, said: "It's dangerous,the kids from the RSA Academy go under there. If that happens at 8.15am someone could be killed. What's to say this isn't going to happen when someone's walking underneath?"
