Have You Ever Noticed This While on the Court Street Bridge

The Court Street bridge in downtown Binghamton is where Main Street ends and Court Street begins. The bridge sits over the Chenango River.

If you are ever traveling westbound over the Court Street Bridge and the light at the corner of Front Street and Main Street is red, you may find yourself stopped in traffic on the Court Street Bridge. If you do, and a truck passes you by in the opposite direction, you will feel the bridge shaking or swaying.

I'm sure it was designed to do that in case of flooding or in case of water freezes and expands at either end of the bridge. But when you don't expect it, it can freak you out, especially if it was a tractor-trailer that went by you at a high rate of speed.

When you first experience it, you may think that you're getting light-headed and a little dizzy. You are not, it is just the bridge. You may think that you are sitting in your car during a minor  earthquake. But fear not, you are not experiencing an earthquake, it is just the bridge.

The first time I noticed it, I really thought I was getting light-headed and thought about pulling over to the side of the road. Now that I know it happens, if I get stuck in traffic and I'm sitting on the bridge, I wait to feel the bridge moving.

Check it out next time you get stopped in traffic as you go across the Court Street Bridge.