New Covered Bridge signs warn of bridge restrictions

St. Joseph County Road Commission has taken a not-so-subtle approach to remind motorists about height and weight restrictions on Langley Covered Bridge.

The agency earlier this month introduced a number of hard-to-miss signs planted along routes north and south of the county icon. They not only include a picture of the bridge, but also serve as a reminder the 7-foot, 3-ton height and weight limits of its vehicular traffic.

An arrow directs oversized and/or overweight vehicles to an alternate route.

Ed Klein, engineering technician and sign director for the Centreville-based road commission, said the new signs are 4 feet high and 8 feet wide. It was Klein’s idea to also include an image of the covered bridge on the sign.

The new signs feature nine-inch letters, contrasting colors, and an easy-to-note directional arrow directing potential height/weight violators east to Angevine Road. The signs were erected the first week of May.

There are four new signs with the covered bridge graphic. One each on either side of the Culbertson Family Cemetery north of the bridge, another at the three-way intersection of Silver Street and Leland Road, and one on Covered Bridge Road, on the south side of the structure and facing northbound traffic.