The Illinois DOT has announced the closure of the historic Red Covered Bridge in Princeton following an accident involving a semi truck. According to information provided by Illinois DOT District 3, the accident occurred on Thursday, November 16th, some before 10 AM. A truck belonging to Wynn Logistics failed to notice the low clearance of the bridge, located over Bureau Creek, one half mile west of Illinois 26, crashing into the roof of the covered bridge. The crash did extensive damage to the 163 year old bridge and the semi and trailer as it scraped the top. The semi-truck had the top of the trailer nearly sheered off in the crash.

The Red Covered Bridge is the only state-owned covered bridge open to traffic and was originally completed in 1864 as an important part of the Galena Trail from Peoria to Galena. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. It was last repaired in 2020. The Bridge is now closed until further notice. The Illinois Department of Transportation is looking into repair options and is assessing the damage to the bridge.