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DelDOT installs new system to reduce crashes on Casho Mill Road

Rachel Sawicki
/
Delaware Public Media

Delaware’s Department of Transportation is trying something new to keep oversized vehicles from using the Casho Mill Road underpass in Newark.

The railroad underpass in Newark has seen more than 70 incidents of oversized vehicles hitting it since 2005. Delaware’s Department of Transportation hopes its newest initiative will reduce that number to 0.

DelDOT’s Community Relation director C.R. McLeod says after many attempts at deterring oversized vehicles from using the underpass, the department installed what it calls “clankers.”

“These clankers are really just a heavy duty plastic material, and the whole idea is that a vehicle hitting them is going to hear it,” said McLeod. “They’re going to hear that noise and that will hopefully prompt them to stop their vehicle before going any further because if they hit the clanker they’re going to hit the bridge.”

Rachel Sawicki
/
Delaware Public Media

Oversize Vehicle Deterrent Devices, nicknamed clankers for the noise they make when they hit the top of a vehicle, are large red balls that now hang just before the Casho Mill Road railroad underpass.

This is just the latest attempt of many over the years to prevent oversized vehicles from trying to go under the bridge.

“We’ve added signage, we’ve added lights, we’ve added flashing lights with sensors so when an oversize vehicle is detected the flashing lights begin, hopefully getting the drivers attention,” explained McLeod. “And it has worked with some success. Unfortunately since 2005, we have still seen more than 70 incidents of oversized vehicles striking that bridge.”

McLeod adds that because many of the incidents involve rental trucks, local companies have been asked to warn renters to not drive on Casho Mill Road.

The clanker ball initiative cost about $300,000 to install, which includes the clankers themselves, new signage, and lights, and may expand across the state depending on its success on Casho Mill Road.

Quinn Kirkpatrick was born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware, and graduated from the University of Delaware. She joined Delaware Public Media in June 2021.