Traffic on Riverside’s First Avenue from 31st Avenue to Ogden Avenue closed down for several hours Wednesday after a cargo truck carrying a large, metal cylinder struck the BNSF line overpass that afternoon.
The truck struck the overpass early in the afternoon on Wednesday. Riverside Director of Public Safety Matthew Buckley said the object, which he called a “steel tank,” was 12-feet long in diameter, making it too big to fit underneath the 13-foot-11-inch overpass, and it caught on the bridge as the truck passed below it. He said Riverside police were dispatched to the scene at 12:12 p.m. and closed First Avenue and the BNSF line immediately.
The tank and the overpass were both damaged in the collision, Buckley said, but no one was injured; Metra personnel arrived at the scene to evaluate the overpass and ensure it would still be safe for trains to run on it following the crash.
Buckley said First Avenue remained closed while a tow company and police worked to remove the tank from the roadway. The four-lane road reopened around 3 p.m. on Wednesday once the tank and truck had been cleared away from the scene.
Buckley said the village has “had a couple incidents” in the past involving semitrailers striking the BNSF overpass over First Avenue.
