Sen. Richard Blumenthal is calling on Apple and Google to update their navigation apps to help warn commercial drivers away from the Merritt Parkway.

Blumenthal joined state police and Department of Transportation officials to ask commercial drivers to stay off Route 15.

The Merritt Parkway Conservancy says nearly 600 commercial vehicles had to be pulled off the highway last year despite the fact that traffic was down due to the pandemic.

Signs next to entrance ramps warn drivers about the height limit. But Blumenthal says signs are not enough.

"All drivers these days are so attuned to these electronic devices rather than the signs. We can make the signs bigger, but truckers need to be warned, explicitly, directly, you simply are not going to be able to make it on this road," Blumenthal said.

The executive director of the Merritt Parkway Conservancy says the cost of damage to the bridges pales in comparison with the delays.

Blumenthal says all it could be avoided with a little more warning.

"No trucker in his right mind would be on this road if he knew he was going to go crashing into an overpass," he said.

DOT officials say just three months into 2021, trucks have already hit four bridges on the Merritt Parkway this year so far.

Vehicles taller than 8 feet are not allowed on the Merritt and Wilbur Cross parkways.