PORT CARBON - Last week, a "sinkhole" opened up on Route 209 in front of Turkey Hill Minit Market, according to borough police Chief Jon Bowman.
It occurred Thursday and when representatives of the state Department of Transportation refused to send a repair crew, two borough workers used a backhoe to fill in the hole with stone and cover it with macadam, a job which cost "more than $300," according to council President Harold "Bucky" Herndon.
At the council's May work session Tuesday, Bowman said the hole was more than 2 feet wide and more than 2 feet deep.
"It's a state highway. And who would argues this stuff and the responsibility that goes along with that had a truck gone into the hole, ripped the saddle tanks open, discharged that stuff into the sewer drain or if somebody had gotten killed," Bowman said.
The council isn't sure it was the borough's responsibility to fix the problem, and the borough is reaching out to state representatives for help resolving the matter, Herndon said.
Bowman said he first noticed "a large depression" in the roadway about 8 a.m. April 25, and he immediately reported it to PennDOT. But PennDOT did not take action that day or that weekend, Bowman said.
On April 28, he called PennDOT again.
"I advised them it had gotten deeper," he said.
Meanwhile, borough roadmaster Jack Fees notified representatives of the Schuylkill County Municipal Authority and the Greater Pottsville Area Sewer Authority, who determined "it was not their problem," Bowman said.
"An off-duty PennDOT employee actually drove by, who was not from this area, took the time to circle it with paint and draw an arrow to it," Bowman said.
On April 29, PennDOT workers applied "a temporary patch," Bowman said.
"Between that Tuesday and Thursday, the roadway opened up in the middle of the state road, which is also our detour route," Bowman said.
Recently, PennDOT closed the Pottsville Street Bridge for replacement in the borough and established a detour which includes Route 209, which is Pike Street.
On Thursday, Bowman called PennDOT to report the situation.
"Whoever their on-call person was said it was a borough problem. I was dumbfounded. It's a state highway. It's a state problem," Bowman said.
Meanwhile, motorists who drive through Port Carbon are still becoming familiar with a detour around the Pottsville Street Bridge, which began April 22. During construction, traffic is being detoured on Commerce, Jackson, Coal and Market streets. The detour will continue until mid-October when the new bridge is expected to open.
At Tuesday's work session, Bowman said there are two traffic problems he's noticed:
- Motorists are forgetting to take notice to the stop signs on Jackson Street at the intersection of Washington Street.
- Only "local traffic" can turn from Jackson Street onto Washington Street.
"If you have business on that street, then you are allowed, by definition, go there. If you're doing it to bypass the detour, don't go there," Bowman said.
There haven't been any traffic accidents on the detour route, Bowman said, but he's given out tickets to vehicles which have driven through the stop signs and warnings to vehicles which turned onto Washington Street to bypass the detour.