Less than 24 hours after the historic Long Grove Covered Bridge was reopened, it was damaged again by an oversized vehicle — this time a bus.
The incident happened around 12:25 p.m. Saturday at Robert Parker Coffin Road and Schaeffer Road in Long Grove.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said that they responded and deputies spoke to the driver of the school bus, which was a rental for an event.
The driver, a 44-year-old Chicago woman, turned from Route 53 onto eastbound Robert Parker Coffin Road, according to Lake County Sheriff Spokesman Sgt. Christopher Covelli.
“Her GPS warned her she should not proceeds with the type of vehicle she was driving. The occupants on the bus convinced her to proceed, which she did, and subsequently struck the bridge,” Covelli told Lake and McHenry County Scanner.
There were no injuries reported and the driver accepted full responsibility for the crash.
In June 2018, a box truck weighing 15,000 pounds struck the top of the bridge, which had recently been declared a historic landmark just weeks prior to the crash.
The driver of the box truck, a Chicago man, was cited for disobeying a traffic control device, driving an overweight vehicle, disobeying a stop sign and failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs took place within the past two years following the first crash and the bridge reopened on Friday, one day before the second crash involving the school bus.
Multiple signs are present near the bridge warning that no trucks, buses, or vehicles over 5 tons are allowed on the bridge.
Traffic charges are pending against the school bus driver, Covelli said.