Livin’ in Liverpool: Will bells and beacons finally stop bridge crashes?

Arslan Doyletov must have been disoriented.

He’d just driven a 2015 Kenworth tractor-trailer westerly down Onondaga Lake Parkway toward the village as he approached a railroad overpass early on the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 27.

When lights began flashing, Doyletov’s disorientation heightened. Warning words appeared in bright light: “OVERHEIGHT VEHICLE DETECTED” and “STOP NOW.”

Maybe he’s not particularly literate. Maybe he didn’t realize what “overheight” means, or that the warning specifically referred to the truck he was operating.

It would’ve been tougher to ignore the simple directive, “Stop now,” but maybe Doyletov was deep in conversation with his passenger, Alisher Charyyev, a buddy of his from their Brooklyn neighborhood.

In any case, the tractor-trailer crashed into the CSX railroad bridge, sustaining significant damage and closing the road for nearly three hours.

Dovletov, 34, and his 41-year-old passenger were not injured, but the driver was ticketed for disobeying a traffic-control device.

Bells and beacons planned

Now, Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to install even more warning devices to forestall future accidents there. According to the governor’s office, he wants to add dual infrared beams, audible bells and warning signs with flashing beacons.

The governor is earmarking $25 million in his 2019-20 executive budget to better alert drivers approaching low bridges across the Empire State.

After four passengers aboard a double-decker Megabus were killed in 2010 when the bus slammed into the railroad bridge, the state installed a system that’s automatically activated when it detects trucks too tall to make it under the 10-foot-9-inch-high bridge.

Even though commercial vehicles are banned along the Parkway, the Liverpool bridge remains the site of at least a couple accidents annually.

Cuomo also wants to increase penalties for commercial vehicle drivers who ignore the warning signs.

Crystal Coast needs help

Last October, Hurricane Michael became the third most intense Atlantic storm ever to make landfall in the U.S., nearly as bad as Camille in 1969 and the Labor Day Hurricane in 1935.

Now, Operation Northern Comfort — the brainchild of Norm Andrzejewski, who lives in Liverpool — will host SC59, a mission trip to Beaufort, North Carolina, from April 14 to 20. “We’ll be partnering with the United Methodist Committee on Relief of North Carolina and the Ann Street Methodist Church of Beaufort,” said Andrzejewski (pronounced Andru-JOO-ski).

Michael’s 155 mph winds, which blew onto the East Coast on Oct. 11, caused an estimated $14 billion damage to states from North Carolina to Florida.

Operation Northern Comfort — modeled after Operation Southern Comfort, which Andrzejewski founded 13 years ago to aid Louisiana residents whose homes were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina — will focus its efforts in April on Beaufort and Carteret counties in the Tar Heel State.

“Cleanup began there some time ago,” Norm said, “but there is still a lot to do.”

Some 1,700 homes on Carteret County’s Crystal Coast still need work, he said. “We expect to help finish cleaning up and beginning the rebuilding process, so we’re looking for volunteers for this trip.”

The group will leave Sunday, April 14, from CNY and return Saturday, April 20. The cost for the trip is $200, which covers round-trip transportation, lodging and meals in Beaufort.

“The work will be strenuous but very rewarding,” Norm said.

Volunteers should email Operation Northern Comfort Registrar David Robinson at [email protected]. For info, visit operationnc.org.

Bufflehead & bald eagles

Onondaga Lake is an Audubon Important Bird Area that provides habitat, food and water sources that many bird species depend upon for survival during winter months. Some of the most abundant bird species here are the bald eagle, common merganser, American black duck, greater scaup, lesser scaup, common goldeneye, bufflehead, hooded merganser, mallard, redhead and ring-necked duck.

A guided one-mile birding walk along the shore of Onondaga Lake is slated for 10 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, March 2, at Honeywell’s Onondaga Lake Visitors Center.

The Onondaga Lake Conservation Corps will conduct the walk, and binoculars and field guides will be provided. Registration is required by calling 315-365-3588 or emailing [email protected]; $5/person, $15/family.