Kirkland keeps ‘I eat trucks’ bridge banners

On Jan. 19, the city of Kirkland said it would allow banners on the Kirkland Way bridge to stay up. Kirkland’s new banner codes, passed on Jan. 17, would require the banners to be removed, but the City Council elected to make an exception this time around for this particular case.

The Kirkland Way bridge is unusually short at only 11 feet 6 inches since it was originally built as a railroad crossing in the 1900s. The standard clearance for bridges is currently 14 feet, and most trucks are designed to conform to this. Although street signs exist to warn drivers of the low height, several incidents have occurred where the roof of trucks collide with the bridge.

To mitigate the issue, many citizens have made their own banners warning truck drivers of the low bridge. These banners usually depict the teeth and eyes of a shark along with the words “I eat trucks.” While the city would normally have taken the banner down, it decided that the banner’s value in public safety was worth the exception.