Section of Hwy 403 in Brantford reopens after truck strikes overpass bridge

A section of Highway 403 in Brantford has reopened after a tow truck pulling heavy equipment struck an overpass bridge Wednesday afternoon, marking the second time in a week this has happened.

Provincial police said they responded to the collision at the North Park Road bridge just before 3 p.m.

Traffic on Highway 403 was rerouted between Oak Park Road and Wayne Gretzky Parkway.

Ministry of Transportation engineers were also called in to inspect the bridge, police said, but the collision was believed to have caused only “minor damage.”

"Commercial vehicle operators who are towing heavy equpiment, because that seems to be the consistent factor in these bridge strikes, you have to be really cognizant of the overall height of your vehicle once you have everything loaded on top," said Cst. Conrad Vitalis of Brant County OPP.

OPP tweeted at 7:40 p.m. that all lanes of Highway 403 had reopened.

"Due to the damage and our recent history with the striking of the other bridge, our officers are kind of in tune with that kind of thing," said Cst. Vitalis. "Our officers reached out to the Ministry of Transportation, who indicated they would send engineers out to inspect the bridge and make sure its safe for passage underneath and overtop."

The crash occurred two interchanges away from where another Brantford overpass bridge was struck by a commercial vehicle last week. In that incident, the collision caused a large concrete slab to detach from the bridge and crash onto the 403.