Submitted story

On Monday, June 10 at 9:09 a.m. Urbana Police and Fire Divisions were sent to a crash involving a semi-tractor trailer having crashed into the underpass of the railroad bridge on West Light Street, just east of Railroad Street.

This is the second crash into this bridge underpass by oversized trucks within the past month. Police investigated a crash at the same location on May 13.

Upon the emergency crew’s arrival on scene, officers found that the 2011 Volvo semi pulling a 2023 trailer were traveling eastbound on West Light Street when the trailer crashed into the underpass of the bridge, resulting in heavy damage to the top of the trailer as it was peeled back. No one was injured in the crash and the bridge remained open after the crash.

The investigation found that the tractor trailer being pulled by the semi was higher than the bridge allows for which is marked with signage for a 12.6 feet clearance. The driver of the semi, Travis Geneon, 33, of Michigan, was not injured. He was issued a traffic citation for Failure to Maintain Careful Operation of his vehicle.

After the scene had been cleared at 9:47 a.m., the same driver was involved in a second crash as he was attempting to make a right turn from West Light Street to go southbound on Railroad Street. As Geneon was completing his turn, the right rear tires of the trailer collided with a fire hydrant on the southwest corner of that intersection, damaging the hydrant.

For this second crash, Geneon was issued a second traffic citation for Failure to Maintain Careful Operation of his vehicle.

The City of Urbana’s Engineer’s Office is working with the railroad company to see about adding additional signage to this area to hopefully prevent another crash due to oversized trucks trying to make it under the bridge.

Info from Urbana Police Division