A box truck slammed into the entry canopy at the Super 8 by Wyndham motel in Morris on Monday, causing the structure to collapse, according to fire officials. No injuries were reported in the incident, and the motel is remaining open for business.
The Morris Fire Protection and Ambulance District and the Morris Police Department both responded to the scene at the motel, located at 70 Green Acres Drive near the interchange of Interstate 80 and Route 47, as reported by WSPY News. The station reported that the box truck struck the canopy directly, bringing it down, though the incident remains under investigation. The property sits just off Exit 112, in a commercial hotel and service corridor that draws heavy interstate traffic.
A Truck Stop Corridor With a Known Hazard
Interstate 80 through Grundy County functions as a major East-West freight artery, and Exit 112 in Morris is a frequent stop for commercial box trucks and long-haul drivers, according to Travel Weekly. That volume of commercial traffic routinely brings delivery vehicles and trucks into local hospitality properties' driveways on a daily basis. The Super 8 property itself was originally built in 1989, per the same outlet, meaning its canopy predates decades of changes in truck sizing and clearance design.
Standard box trucks can measure close to the maximum height allowed on Illinois roads without a special permit, which is 13 feet, 6 inches under Section 15-103 of the Illinois Vehicle Code, according to Justia Law. Municipal building codes for commercial entryways and port-cocheres, meanwhile, typically call for vertical clearances of only 10 to 14 feet, which leaves box trucks approaching the upper end of that legal height with very little margin for error, per the City of Hood River.
Part of a Wider Pattern Nationally
The Morris collision is far from an isolated event. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's data shows that between 13,000 and 18,000 vehicle-structure and bridge strikes happen annually across the country, according to the OKI Regional Council. Many of those overheight incidents involve commercial trucks clipping low-clearance overhangs or overpasses, much like the canopy collapse at the Super 8.
What comes next for the motel's damaged entryway is likely to involve more than a quick patch job. Under International Building Code provisions adopted by local jurisdictions, structural damage to an entry canopy requires a formal structural engineering evaluation and inspection by a building official before repairs or full structural re-certification can proceed, according to the City of Stamford. It is not yet known whether Morris officials have scheduled that kind of inspection for the Super 8 property.
For now, fire officials say the motel will remain open despite the collapsed canopy at its entrance. The precise height of the box truck involved, and whether clearance markers or warning signs were posted at the driveway, have not been disclosed. The Morris Police Department, which operates out of 215 West Jefferson Street, is continuing to investigate the crash alongside the Morris Fire Protection and Ambulance District, whose headquarters and Station 2 sit at 2301 Ashton Road and which covers roughly 140 square miles and more than 22,000 residents across Grundy County.
