A bridge in Plandome used by the Long Island Railroad was not damaged after a box truck became wedged under the structure Sept. 11 and forced the Port Washington branch to suspend service during the evening rush hour, the MTA said.
The oversized box truck attempted to drive under the nine-foot-tall bridge in the afternoon, scraping the underside of the bridge and becoming stuck. The bridge carries LIRR tracks for the Port Washington Branch over Stonytown Road.
Service was suspended east of Great Neck, causing delays and cancellations for many Port Washington Branch commuters during the Monday evening rush.
Due to the delayed and canceled services, NICE Bus cross-honored LIRR fares along the Port Washington Branch on the N20h, N21, N23 and N27 buses.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority Police Department responded to the incident and had the truck removed by 5:45 p.m.
Once the truck was removed, the MTA conducted an investigation into the integrity of the bridge to ensure there was no damage and was safe to have trains resume the route.
When an incident of this nature happens, Mike Cortez, MTA media liaison, said the MTA sends individuals out to assess the integrity of the bridge.
In order to assess the bridge for damage, Cortez said train traffic had to remain stalled.
Once the bridge assessment was completed and the structural integrity was confirmed, Cortez said the MTA ran test trains at reduced speeds to ensure there were no issues with the bridge.
Cortez said the assessment determined the bridge did not require any repairs due to the incident.
The driver of the box truck was issued a citation.
