Syracuse, NY - The top state Department of Transportation official issued his first public response Wednesday to a bus crash four days ago at a railroad bridge on Onondaga Lake Parkway that killed four people. Acting Commissioner Stanley Gee issued a release that explained in general terms what the state is doing following the Saturday crash on their road,...
Syracuse, NY - The top state Department of Transportation official issued his first public response Wednesday to a bus crash four days ago at a railroad bridge on Onondaga Lake Parkway that killed four people.
Acting Commissioner Stanley Gee issued a release that explained in general terms what the state is doing following the Saturday crash on their road, also known as state Route 370. The state DOT is responsible for providing safety along the parkway.
A double-decker Megabus crashed into the CSX bridge at 2:30 a.m. Saturday after the driver got lost while trying to reach the Regional Transportation Center. Four passengers were killed and more than 20 injured.
The DOT’s chief engineer inspected the site of the low railroad bridge Monday “with an eye toward determining what actions might be appropriate in the future,” Gee wrote in Wednesday’s release.
He said techniques used to reduce too-high vehicle crashes on parkways in the Hudson Valley might be used on Onondaga Lake Parkway. He did not say what techniques those were. His spokeswoman could not provide an explanation.
“We need to fully understand the incident – including its cause and contributing factors – before we take further steps,” Gee wrote. “As stewards of the state’s transportation system, our approach must be thorough, well-informed and reasoned. We need to find the right answers, not necessarily the fastest ones.”
Gee said he met Wednesday with County Executive Joanie Mahoney to discuss what can be done. He said state DOT staff will meet with other officials in coming weeks.
“As we await the findings of the sheriff’s accident investigations, we will work diligently to identify a response that will help prevent bridge crashes in the future,” he wrote.
State DOT officials have declined all interviews since the crash. A spokeswoman said the DOT is working on getting answers to questions about the safety of the highway, which were submitted by The Post-Standard to three different DOT officials in the past two days.
Contact Douglass Dowty at ddowty@syracuse.com or 470-6070.