by Joe Conger / KENS 5
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Posted on October 5, 2012 at 7:35 PM
SAN ANTONIO – It just takes a 14-ton school bus falling from the sky onto your doorstep to get you thinking about your location.
“I think perhaps a couple of additional measures could be taken,” said Shann Chaudhry, the owner of the Comfort Suites Hotel that was ground zero for a school bus that plunged from the I-37 overpass.
Built in 2008, the Comfort Suites is barely a stone’s throw from Interstate-37. Step inside, and its soundproof walls eliminate the traffic noise. But it’s the bridge outside that the owners are now concerned about.
Chaudhry said, “We'll ask TxDOT, but I think it's something that probably needs to be addressed by way of a state bill, maybe legislation to make sure some sort of additional security put in places this type of thing could happen."
TxDOT officials immediately replaced the broken guardrail. But engineers will also examine what—if any—extra precautions can be taken.
Take a trip downtown, and San Antonio drivers see other tight spaces between buildings and freeways.
Thicker, concrete barricades can stop wayward cars and trucks, but engineers say the added weight could prove too much for the bridges.
TxDOT spokesperson Laura Lopez said, “This is a unique situation that happened yesterday, and this is something our staff is going to have to review to see what kind of improvements we need to make."
Fixes aren’t often cheap or easy. Thicker, concrete barricades can stop wayward cars and trucks, but engineers say the added weight could prove too much for the bridges.
