“When New York State’s picturesque state Parkway system was built early in the Twentieth Century, it was designed for automobiles.
Low stone bridges on the Parkway system have posted vertical clearances as low as 6 feet, 11 inches.
Commercial vehicles often hit and get stuck under these low bridges, causing serious accidents and long delays while they are being removed,” said the New York State Department of Transportation.
So, since this isn't widely known, and is often violated, the state uses it as a revenue generator, and on July 27 and July 28, 2026, troopers conducted an operation targeting commercial vehicle traffic, and made 114 tickets for violating the Parkway Rules and Regulations, (vehicles with painted or displayed signs, names, or insignia operating on the Parkway)
In Connecticut, the Merritt Parkway (38 miles long) is the same way.
ReplyDeletethank you!
DeleteParkway in the Metropolitan New York area connotes private passenger vehicles only. The Taconic is a beautiful route. Originally, it was designed to go to the Canadian border. When the Interstate System was built, I-87 eclipsed this scenic road with a high-speed road. Today, the Taconic State Parkway terminates at I-90 about 20 miles west of the Massachusetts border.
ReplyDeleteThe law gets a little silly though. I recall long long ago, hearing of someone who got tagged for driving a station wagon on which (as is or was the custom for horsey aristocratic types) was the wording "so and so farms." on the door.
ReplyDeleteThe Taconic, like the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut, is one of the oldest such highways around, and although I think many upgrades have occurred over the years, it used to have plain road crossings in some places, making for a pretty hazardous stretch, and most of the entrance and exit lanes were very short if they existed at all. Any three lane section such as the picture above, is certainly an upgrade. On the other hand, it was also beautifully engineered. Back in the 1960's I lived for a while in Copake, NY, and often took the Taconic for errands and work-related stuff, and one of the features was that the curves were so perfectly configured that you could enter a curve and not touch the steering wheel throughout.
I don't remember much about the bridges on the Taconic, but one of the features of the Merritt Parkway is that every bridge crossing it is different!
https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-merritt-parkway-has-72-unique.html
Delete