Mississauga pedestrian bridge hit by dump truck on Hwy. 401 reopened, driver charged

In addition to causing massive delays on Hwy. 401, a pedestrian bridge was damaged when a dump truck hit it.

The crash closed all Hwy. 401 eastbound express lanes approaching Mavis Road around 7 a.m. on Wednesday (Oct. 19).

The dump box came off the truck as the driver was driving, OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said in a tweet. The box lifted when it hit the pedestrian overpass — the truck continued on, leaving the box behind.

The driver appeared to have mistakenly left the box up.

The bridge is a City of Mississauga active transportation bridge, known as Second Line Bridge, says Mississauga spokesperson Irene McCutcheon in an email.

City staff placed closure signage and barricades on both the north and south approaches to the bridge from Second Line West on Wednesday, McCutcheon says.

Ministry of Transportation (MTO) staff members inspected the bridge yesterday. Schmidt said the engineers actually went inside the bridge to assess the damage.

The MTO confirmed “it is safe to reopen to pedestrians and cyclists,” McCutcheon says. 

And the bridge was reopened yesterday afternoon, she says.

“The MTO will continue to inspect and monitor the bridge until any required repairs can be made,” she adds.

The truck driver was charged with unsafe vehicle and fail to perform prescribed inspection, Schmidt tells insauga.com.