In July 2021, there was already a case where a truck became stuck under the canopy of the famous Long Grove Bridge, causing cosmetic damage to the structure at the time.
Daily Herald archive photo/2021

Once again, a van got stuck under Long Grove’s famous covered bridge early Monday morning. The vehicle bore the brunt of the damage.

“In the vast majority of cases, the vehicle is damaged,” said Dana McCarthy, deputy village manager of Long Grove. “The bridge is made of high-strength steel.”

After the collision at about 7 a.m., the focus was more on letting the air out of the truck’s tires to free it and allow it to continue driving than on repairing any structural damage, he added.

“There’s really nothing there,” McCarthy said. “It’s more of a driver problem.”

Although the bridge has certainly been hit well over 50 times since it reopened in 2020 after an extensive renovation, the village itself does not keep count of the cases.

In addition to drivers ignoring warning signs, GPS systems designed for cars have been blamed for some previous incidents involving trucks and the bridge. McCarthy said he did not know what caused Monday’s collision.

Because Lake County sheriff’s officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday, it is unclear if any citations were issued.