GORDON - Although new signs for tractor-trailers were put up on Gordon Mountain Road in 2009 and the last major crash was in 2010, borough and township officials and police said there is still a problem.
The borough has had to deal with many crashes over the years caused by trucks accidently coming into town via the road - state Route 4007 - becoming lost due to confusing signs or inaccurate GPS directions and losing control, usually due to brake failure.
There have been close calls with several trucks just missing a nearby home at the base of the mountain near the intersection with Biddle Street.
In some cases, it has lead to serious crashes, including one that caused the death of a truck driver.
"We haven't had any accidents there, tractor-trailer-related, in a while, so there may be some progress being made there," said Butler Township police Chief Edward Tarantelli.
The most recent incident occurred Aug. 3, 2010, when a tractor-trailer carrying a load of watermelons went out of control and crashed into heavy brush in the borough.
The driver, Willie Irby, 49, of Zellwood, Fla., was slightly injured and was treated at the scene.
According to Tarantelli, Irby was delivering the watermelons from Maryland to the Wal-Mart Distribution Center at Highridge Business Park when he got off the ramp from I-81 South and the GPS took him down the mountain.
On Saturday, Tarantelli said that police still see a multitude of trucks coming down the mountain and getting hung up either in Gordon trying to turn around, or further out in the area of Turnpike Road and Beaver Dam Road.
"That's a consistent problem," Tarantelli said.
He said that while the signs are there, he thinks the problem is the trucks traveling to Highridge are either not observing them or not paying attention to them.
The process to initiate a new safety plan on the mountain goes back prior to 2006, although the work completed in 2009.
The process began in 2008 when the Schuylkill Economic Development Corp. began working with state Department of Transportation to remove old signs and replace them with signs that better direct truckers to their destinations.
In addition to the signage, new weight restrictions were put in place to improve safety and the problem of incorrect GPS information was being addressed.
A weight restriction was set at 19 tons on both the Gordon and Cass Township-Heckscherville sides of the mountain.
The speed limit was also reduced, signs were erected to tell drivers that they would be heading down a nine-degree grade and about $2 million was spent for work on the pullover safety areas and information boards.
Kurt Lynch, Gordon Borough Council president, agreed with Tarantelli that the problem is "definitely not solved." He said Gordon borough Manager Paul Snyder constantly must send trucks back up the mountain.
Lynch said that according to Snyder during the regular council meetings, there are at least two to three trucks a day getting lost, sometimes causing damage in the community.
"Some mailboxes are getting knocked off," Lynch said. "Gordon borough has had damage and we've turned it into the insurance companies."
Lynch said that borough residents have been asking who could pay their damages.
As the problem continues, Lynch said that at this point, he doesn't know what could rectify it. Still, he said it was an issue with direction and GPS.
Snyder even got on the radio with the trucking company at one point to help direct a truck and tell them to change the directions in their system, Lynch said.
Although he doesn't know how the operations work with the Wal-Mart Distribution Center - where he said many of the trucks are headed - he suggested the drivers be briefed more, although he admitted there could be a multitude of trucking companies heading to Highridge.