Lansing — The Mighty Mackinac may be the most famous bridge in Michigan, but the city of Lansing is fighting tooth and nail for some recognition of its own.
Located just north of the Red Cedar River on South Pennsylvania Avenue, Penny the Truck Eating Bridge has become a cultural phenomenon after devouring 100 trucks in the past 20 years.
Eyes and teeth stare menacingly at oncoming traffic from both sides of the overpass, whose low 12-foot clearance crunches semis, campers, and any other vehicles too tall to fit underneath her.
While the bridge has been around since the early 20th century, she re-emerged in the headlines in 2024 after going on a rampage. She consumed 26 trucks that last year, with three incidents occurring in a 24-hour period.
News outlets resurrected her history online and in print, and locals took the opportunity to design Big Penny merch that included ornaments, stickers, and T-shirts. Lansing-based music group Deer & Elk even wrote a song in her honor.
“They call her Big Penny,” the duo sings. “She wasn’t part of yer plan. Aww Big Penny. She’ll open up yer can.”
The Grand Trunk Western Railroad finished construction on the bridge in 1928, and in 1965, a clipping from the Lansing State Journal documented one of the first of Penny’s victims when 35-year-old Henry R. Taylor’s truck came to a grinding halt underneath the shallow overpass.
In the photo that accompanied the story, Lansing police assessed the damage to Taylor’s truck under a warning sign that read “11 ft. 3 in.” at the time.
By 1987, the location had gained enough notoriety amongst locals for Waverly High School counselor Jerry Gerow penned a response to a columnist at the Lansing State Journal saying Michigan’s capitol city was overlooking a “natural tourist attraction.”
“As in Homer’s Odyssey, where ships were lured to their destruction off the Cyclades Islands, we have the same thing for trucks; we have our ‘Truck-Eating Bridge,’” Gerow wrote.
Gerow’s suggestions included painting the bridge to look like a giant mouth, selling shirts and hats to raise funds for the nearby Potter Park Zoo, and painting a truck symbol on the bridge for each of Penny’s victims once an accurate count could be obtained.
While his vision for the bridge took a long time to materialize, it eventually did.
On a Sunday afternoon in summer 2024, two individuals donned hard hats and safety vests, made their way onto the bridge, and added the first set of eyes and teeth that now decorate the northbound side.
The pair, who run the Facebook page “STUPID — Lansing (the Society for Totally Useless Pranks and Immature Dumbassery),” has chosen to remain anonymous to give Penny a life of her own. But they said that the bridge has been a big part of their efforts to make Lansing smile.
“People were so wrapped up in their own lives that no one even noticed,” they said. “This might also be why so many people are hitting the damn bridge!”
When the community responded with approval, they followed up with a second set of eyes and teeth on the southbound side and eventually a scoreboard that tallies both the number of trucks Penny has munched in the current calendar year as well as the total number of trucks she has munched since 2004 when consistent traffic data became available.
The teeth are made out of a craft foam, according to the group, and are held in place by an industrial adhesive. The eyes on the northbound side are made from repurposed wall clocks stuffed with circular black cutouts, while the ones on the southbound side are made from plastic serving trays with black vinyl decals.
“We are super curious as to whether or not they jiggle on impact,” they said about the wall clock variation, which feature free-floating centers.
The 26 trucks Big Penny munched in 2024 came out to be the most damage she has ever done in a single year, according to STUPID’s analysis of the available traffic crash data. And with all the buzz, she eventually made it onto Google Maps, where she now holds a 4.9-star rating as a cultural landmark with 186 reviews.
A big factor in the increase of incidents was likely the construction around Lansing, according to the administrators at STUPID, with work being done on I-496, US-127, I-96, and I-69 that often reroutes traffic right into Penny’s jaws.
This year has proven to be another big one for Penny, with 21 munches so far in 2025. The most recent of these on Aug. 22 was a huge milestone, as it officially took her total to 100 trucks munched since 2004.
To celebrate, STUPID brought the Lansing community together for the Big Penny Party in Old Town, which featured food and drinks from Ozone’s Brewhouse, live music from Deer & Elk, raffle prizes, and more.
Penny has a special place in Lansing’s culture despite causing headaches for truck drivers. Because she shows no indication of slowing down, she has the chance to set another record for most trucks munched in a year before 2025 is up.
“She is not perfect. She is gritty, resilient, and a little silly,” the administrators at STUPID said. “But despite the hits, despite the tremendous weight on her shoulders, she perseveres, she shows up, she stands strong with a toothy grin, and she’s there every damn day. Just like many of us, and just like much of Lansing.”
Isaac Green is a contributing writer for Michigan Enjoyer.
