Damage to the moving truck in which Kenneth Prysock was a passenger when it collided with the Race Street Arch
PITTSBURGH – A passenger in a box truck that collided with an arch-shaped tunnel in Pittsburgh is calling on authorities to pay the cost, declaring the roadway is “unsafe for use.”
Over the “Race Street Arch” are train tracks operated by Norfolk Southern Railway, but through it is a dangerous shape that taller vehicles routinely crash into, the lawsuit filed last week in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas by Kenneth Prysock says.
The tallest part of the arch is 9 feet, but clearance is complicated when the arch gets shorter on its sides. When Prysock was riding in a truck while working for the Don Farr moving company in July 2024, he assumed a sign showing the 9-foot figure meant he was safe on all sides.
“The danger of the changing tunnel height is accentuated because the inadequate number and placement of the height signs only provide the height at the center of the tunnel,” the suit says.
The Race Street Arch
“Over many years, many vehicles continually drive under the tunnel only to collide into the overhead stone, causing accidents and injuries.”
Prysock is suing Pittsburgh Regional Transit, Norfolk Southern, the state Department of Transportation and Edgewood Borough Public Works Department, seeking compensation for his injuries.
The moving truck “violently collided with the stone tunnel” as Prysock’s coworker drove through it, the suit says. The impact caused the truck to abruptly come to a stop.
Prysock apparently went head-first into the interior of the truck, as he is claiming injuries including blunt-force trauma to the face and head, nasal fracture, concussion and blurred vision. He also says he suffered injuries to his knee, hip and back.
The suit says the defendants designed and maintained the tunnel in “such a manner that motorists were at risk of injury,” and failed to provide “an adequate warning system.” Christopher Apessos represents Prysock.
