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3 On Your Side: Missing The Signs

By Diana Rocco

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- When you get behind the wheel, you have to pay attention to signs on the road. But some bus and truck drivers are having trouble doing that.

"Did you see the sign that says 'No Trucks?" we asked a driver.

"I didn't see the sign," he said.

"Do you think that applies to you?" we asked another driver.

"I guess it does," he said.

The bridges are clearly marked: Weight limit, 3 tons, no trucks, no buses. Like this one on Bells Mill Road, one of the worst bridges in Philadelphia because of structural problems. And yet truck after truck drives over it.

Same thing here on the bridge on 15th Street.

"Age is taking its toll on the structure, and it's starting to weaken," said Darin Gatti of the Philadelphia Streets Department.

The Philadelphia Streets Department closed the bridge in January so it could be reinforced. It then re-opened, but only to vehicles weighing less than 3 tons. That's just 6,000 pounds. That's about the size of an average SUV.

One delivery truck driver laughed: "Send me the ticket."

It's no laughing matter.

"We'd rather not have the additional weight additional vibrations on the structure," Gatti said.  "If we allowed all traffic, it would age the bridge and we'd have to close it to all traffic."

Well, it sure looks like all traffic is using the bridge. 3 On Your Side watched for days and saw all types of trucks and buses: Huge delivery trucks. School buses. Ambulances. A fire truck. Even a truck carrying a truck. In one ten-hour period, we counted more than 140 buses and trucks crossing the bridge.

The restrictions shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. As you turn onto 15th Street from Spring Garden, there's a sign: "No trucks, no buses." And there's not just one but six signs warning bus and truck drivers not to go over it.

City workers were some of the biggest violators, such as a driver from the Philadelphia Water Department.

"How much do you think this truck weighs?" 3 On Your Side asked him.

"I don't know," he said.

"More than three tons?" we asked.

"Yeah."

Check out this SEPTA bus weighing about 20 tons.

"Did you see the sign that says no trucks?" we asked the driver.

"Uh, actually I'm on detour. I went the wrong way," the driver said.

We told SEPTA about this bus, and it posted a warning to all drivers.

"That particular operator made a mistake, and we're just going to make sure that no one else makes the same mistake," said Jerri Williams of SEPTA.

After seeing a fire truck on the bridge, we also called the fire department. While they didn't respond, shortly after, reminders went out on their radio system: "Drivers are reminded they are not to use the 15th Street bridge."

And after 3 On Your Side started asking questions, police were out giving tickets.

"The fines can be several hundred to a thousand dollars," one officer explained.

The truck enforcement unit handed out numerous citations, one of them to a driver of a school bus full of kids.

"It is serious," Gatti said. "You don't want to take a heavy truck over a posted bridge, especially a school bus with children on it."

We contacted the school district multiple times, but never heard back.

The Streets Department says the bridges are not in imminent danger of collapse. They're inspecting them every six months. Meantime, they will be working with the police to come up with some new signs they hope will get drivers' attention.

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