New safety devices along Independence Avenue may mean fewer collisions for Kansas City’s notorious ‘ truck-eating bridge .’
Built in 1912, the bridge is something of a local celebrity in the Historic Northeast. It has its own Facebook group with over 13,000 members. It’s the subject of internet memes and evocative fan art . Google even calls it a “ historical landmark ,” referring to it only as “The Bridge.”
The infamous bridge can be found on the southern border of the Indian Mound neighborhood, where railroad tracks cut across Independence Avenue and create a tight underpass for vehicle traffic. Many truck drivers have learned the hard way that the bridge has a clearance of just 12 feet — shorter than the height of most large trucks.
Now, the city hopes that new warning “curtains” on either side of the bridge will alert trucks that they’re too tall to squeeze underneath before it’s too late.
“We love our undefeated champion, but want to ensure drivers and goods are safe and the bridge gets a rest from its eating schedule for a while,” wrote Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas in a Thursday post on X , formerly known as Twitter.