Forget About America’s 11ft8 Bridge, Check Out Britain’s Infamously Narrow 7ft Woodmere Avenue

Offbeat

You might know the “11foot8” bridge (which is now 12’ 4” tall, but the name has stuck) in Durham, North Carolina that became viral following a number of accidents with tall trucks. Now, the latest piece of bad road design comes from the U.K.

The Woodmere Avenue width restriction has its own Facebook group with plenty of humorous memes thrown into the mix and a number of YouTube videos dedicated to it and has even become the subject of some political action as a result of the numerous victims it has left in its wake.

Located in Watford, Hertfordshire, near London, the Woodmere Avenue width restriction is a form of traffic control that’s designed to limit the width of vehicles driving through it. Intended as a means of preventing very big vehicles from entering residential areas, it allows only those that are up to 6’6″ (198cm) wide, per the Daily Mail, though a sign seen on Google maps (below) says its 7.0″ (210cm) wide.

Read Also: North Carolina’s Infamous ’11foot8′ Bridge Kills A Caravan’s A/C Units

U.K. drivers with large SUVs sometimes complain about width restrictions preventing them from driving through. But it’s not just very wide models like the 6’9” wide Land Rover Disovery Sport that are having a hard time passing, videos of the Woodmere Avenue one show it all kinds of vehicles crash as they climb the curb and hit a bollard.

Footage posted to YouTube show a VW Golf popping one wheel in the air as it tries to navigate the width restriction and a small Skoda Roomster becoming stuck in it. In August, meanwhile, the Hertfordshire Mercury reported that a Volvo became so stuck in it that it had to be lifted out with a digger.

What’s your meme on Woodmere Avenue?

Video captured by one resident’s Ring cam showed as many as 12 accidents there in a period of six weeks. Such is the issue that Watford MP Dean Russell raised the issue in Parliament in September, asking for a different kind of width restriction to be installed.

“This is something that I have been working on for quite some time now, securing an Adjournment Debate in the House of Commons and raising at Ministerial level,” Russell said.

Local resident and former bus driver Barry Felton told the outlet, though, that the solution to the issue is really simple.

“I get fed up with it and the damage it causes,” Felton said. “It’s like a time bomb. All we want is the reinforced posts taken out.”

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