SHENANDOAH - Although the oversized load that was stuck on Route 924 on Monday was the first incident of its kind he has seen in the borough, Joe Palubinsky, borough manager, said traffic has increased over the years on the state highway.
"We've run into situations, but that was the worst," Palubinsky said Monday. "It does create traffic jams downtown because there is little room for heavy loads to maneuver."
Detours from construction on the interstate plays a role in that. The state Department of Transportation began work recently on upgrades to I-81, which has reduced traffic to one lane in some instances. The narrowing of the road means oversized loads must be diverted.
On Monday, a truck carrying a 120,000-pound excavator on its way to Lake Champlain got stuck as it began to climb the Shenandoah Heights Hill and tied up traffic for four hours. The driver, Anthony Sinisi, said he stopped the vehicle to raise the trailer after noticing that it was scraping the surface of the road but was unable to get it started up the hill again. Traffic was rerouted through Shenandoah and Raven Run before coming back onto Route 924 in Shenandoah again.
Palubinsky said the heavy loads being carried by the trucks are hitting traffic signals in the borough. He said most of the time, drivers do not stop after hitting a signal.
"They are knocking the heck out of our traffic lights and, unfortunately, we are left to repair them," Palubinsky said, referring to the overall increase in large vehicles and not specifically to the recent detour.
Palubinsky said the borough had to replace the traffic signals on Centre Street last year and raise them higher over the roadway. More recently, the traffic signal over the intersection of Main and Coal streets was damaged by an oversized truck.
PennDOT was not required to notify the borough that interstate traffic is being rerouted through Route 924 since it is a state route.
While Palubinsky said he has yet to see any damages done to roadways due to the heavy loads carried by trucks, he said the borough won't know the extent of possible damages until a problem arises.
Palubinsky said he didn't have any contact with PennDOT about payment for damages or alternative routes.
"I'm not aware if anything could be done differently but we would like to have help paying for repairs," Palubinsky said.
Mary Luscavage, Downtown Shenandoah Inc. manager, has noticed the trucks passing her office on North Main Street, which is Route 924 passing through the borough.
"I've just never seen such heavy traffic, but other than that, there's really no concern," she said Tuesday. "I'm not saying that it's not a concern for the borough officials but I don't think it hurt businesses in any way. It doesn't happen that often that the town is actually at a standstill."
"The reason why we reroute oversized loads is to make sure that they can get to their destination safely," Sean Brown, safety press officer for PennDOT, said Tuesday. Oversized loads also require escort vehicles.
Brown said all vehicles carrying oversized loads, which are loads exceeding 80,000 pounds, must have permits from PennDOT.
Brown said that the vehicle stuck on Route 924 in Shenandoah on Monday qualified as a superload, which requires a state police escort. The truck was owned by Izzi Trucking and Rigging Inc., Edison, N.J.. The company did have a permit to use the route and the vehicle had the state police escort.
Brown said the permits also designate a route for drivers.
"They need to get a permit to travel roadways and it also guides them from their beginning to end locations safely," Brown said. "We make sure they don't go over any bridges with weight restrictions or hit anything that overhangs roadways or scrape curbs."
Brown said that all routes are checked to see if they can maintain heavy loads and permits carry strict penalties if not followed. For example, Brown said that drivers can be penalized for each pound exceeding the maximum capacity of a bridge.
"It has happened that drivers with permits have not stayed on their routes," Brown said. "That could result in a lot of fines and penalties because it could be a dangerous situation."
Brown said trucking companies apply for permits through an automated system online. He said the system is not capable of providing statistics for heavy load trucks permitted for the Route 924 detour.