– by Vinny Porco

On Thursday, Nov. 7 just before the turn of the three o’clock hour, University of Louisville students yet again witnessed the metal roof of a truck peeled off by the low clearance of the Third Street and Winkler Avenue bridge. And to add insult to injury, this bridge, known colloquially as the “Can-Opener,” had taken yet another truck as its victim not three days prior.

How exactly did these infamous “can-openings” come to happen? I’ll start with the big picture. The “Can-Opener” was erected in the 1920’s as a train bridge passing right by an old Ford plant that has since been replaced by the Reynolds Lofts apartments. So, at very least, it has been established that the bridge was here first.

But in terms of the logistics of how accidents like these happen, it’s a bit of a head scratcher. The typical trailer truck is around 13 and a half feet tall, and as previously mentioned, the Third Street bridge in question has a markedly low posted clearance height of 11 feet and eight inches.

As with any underpass, the clearance height is stated explicitly above for all drivers to see. Additionally, signs are posted on the side of the road and hung next to the stop lights surrounding the exterior of the bridge, warning truck drivers of the low clearance height and advising vehicles above eleven feet and eight inches to take advantage of the final opportunity to turn.

So with all precautions taken to warn drivers of the bridge’s unusually low clearance, do people still drive under the bridge at the wheel of vehicles that are too tall? I think you know the anwser by this point.

This is where my issue lies. People can be warned by five or more signs that the infamous “Can-Opener” is in fact too low for their vehicle to clear. It doesn’t matter. Sunscreen doesn’t help when you’ve flown too close to the sun. Sure, the trucks standing at eleven feet and ten inches might cheat death. But the vast majority of these selective readers will hear the metal-crunching consequences of their actions from the driver’s seat.

Truck drivers, the signs aren’t lying to you. The words painted directly on the bridge aren’t lying to you. The “Can-Opener” is the product of a largely bygone era of factory industrialism in the city of Louisville. Its sole purpose today is to de-lid the proverbial Campbell’s soup can which is your six-figure truck.

In a perfect world, there could obviously be some changes. For one, there is certainly room for conversation as it pertains to there being either too much or not eye-catching enough signage approaching the bridge. 

In more accidental cases, often the fatigue of being on the road for many demanding and long hours can be to blame for the lapses in decision-making and reaction time of truck drivers. If this means painting the low clearance message large in ugly neon green paint directly on the bridge as opposed to having the many yellow signs posted that are as good as camouflaged to the seasoned truck driver, then so be it.

And secondly, maybe there can be a better world for our children. Maybe there doesn’t need to be a “Can-Opener” at all. Or for the sentimental folks out there, maybe someday it could be raised just a few feet higher. A man can dream.

But as long as the bridge on Third Street lies in wait above the road for its next victim, I only have one message for the drivers of particularly tall vehicles. Don’t try it. Be safe. Turn around. Live to see another day.

Photo courtesy of Lucas Aulbach/The Courier Journal