FORT WAYNE, IN (Indiana's NewsCenter) --- A move by the Indiana Department of Transportation to deal with a potential traffic hazard may be contributing to a different hazard at a bridge on Fort Wayne's northwest side.
The problem is people ignoring a road-closed sign at a span on Hillegas Road, where only northbound vehicles are supposed to be crossing the bridge.
Throughout the day Monday, however, southbound cars and trucks were driving across in the northbound lane, which could trigger a head-on collision in the middle of the bridge.
On Friday night, a tow truck on U-S 30 below clipped a couple of bridge supports on the underneath side of the bridge.
At least two supports were bent.
INDOT engineers are evaluating what repairs need to be made, and in the meantime, they shut off southbound traffic on the bridge deck above, in case the supports are compromised.
But again, numerous motorists are either confused or figure they don't need to obey the signs, and are going ahead, and in some cases, it's putting vehicles on a collision course with each other.
Stacie McCormick/INDOT: " That's absolutely a concern. Uh, people should be obeying traffic laws, especially when we have barricades in front of the place where there is an issue that they should be avoiding. That definitely shouldn't be happening and that's an enforcement issue, perhaps police will need to get involved."
A few hundred yards from the bridge, a sign detours traffic onto Washington Center Road, right into another construction zone, and during rush hour, the delays may be lengthy.
That may be one reason why motorists are crossing the Hillegas Bridge in the wrong lane.
It could take a few weeks for the bridge supports to be fixed, increasing the need for traffic to obey the warning signs to avoid any additional mishaps.
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