Calling in PA road damage emergencies

LINDA DROLLINGER
Posted 5/22/19

BEACH LAKE, PA — “If a Wayne County road is impassable because of tree damage or another emergency condition, who should you call?” asked resident Jim Barth during the public …

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Calling in PA road damage emergencies

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BEACH LAKE, PA — “If a Wayne County road is impassable because of tree damage or another emergency condition, who should you call?” asked resident Jim Barth during the public participation segment of the May 20 Berlin Township board of supervisors meeting.

“Nine-one-one,” responded supervisor and road-master Charlie Gries, adding that 911 should be used only for life-threatening emergencies. “If the condition makes the road impassable but does not pose an immediate threat to life, the call should be made to the Wayne County Communication Center as a non-emergency notification. Although the call is routed to the same physical location (43 Volunteer Drive, Route 652 in Honesdale), the phone number is different: 570/253-3109. Program that number into your cell phone.”

If the road is damaged but passable and is a local (township road), township road-masters should be alerted. Berlin’s two road-masters, Gries and supervisor Cathy Hunt, can be reached at the township office 570/729-8073, or via the township website www.berlintownship.org.

 Program that number into your cell phone as well.

During the road-masters’ report, Hunt read aloud a list of township roads determined by a PennDOT engineer to need rebuilding. When she’d finished, Gries asked her to add Miller Road to the list. He recalled how he’d found a pothole in a low lying section of that road but couldn’t see how deep it was. He put a rake into the hole and discovered it was two feet deep. He found the cause to be water undermining the road from below; a new drainage system and sluice will be required.

Drivers should also be prepared to call PennDOT, the state agency responsible for maintaining state route roadways (Route 652, Route 6, Route 191). PennDOT’s local office (84 Texas Palmyra Highway in Honesdale) can be reached by phone at 570/253-3130.

In other business, the board unanimously passed an updated floodplain ordinance.

PA, road damage, tree damage, beach lake, Berlinv Township, Wayne County Communication Center

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