Truckers beware: 鈥楪eorgetown Scalper鈥� not safe for passage
Amber Abruzzi has lived near the railroad tracks in Cecil Township for 27 years, and has grown accustomed to box trucks and 18-wheelers getting stuck at the Georgetown Road underpass every once in a while.
However, recently these incidents have become all too common occurrences.
鈥淚t has never been this bad,鈥� Abruzzi said. 鈥淚n the last, I would say year-and-a-half, two years, it has just been ridiculous. It鈥檚 either a truck stuck, or a truck can鈥檛 turn around because we have small, narrow roads.鈥�
The underpass is in the 500 block of Georgetown Road, just before it turns into Valley Brook Road. The stretch of road provides a connection between Route 19 and Interstate 79.
The underpass, which has a clearance of 11 feet, is best used only by passenger vehicles.
Cecil Township Fire Chief Ted Wolford can attest to the increase in trucks ignoring traffic signs and continuing on to get stuck at the underpass. He estimates they get called to this area of Georgetown Road once or twice a week.
鈥淲e have to go down and direct traffic and help them get the vehicle out. It鈥檚 definitely a nuisance that鈥檚 happening, and the truck drivers don鈥檛 pay attention to the signs,鈥� Wolford said.
According to Wolford, the incidents rarely, if ever, lead to injuries. They do send one or two trucks to the scene, and a towing company will help pull the truck out from underneath the bridge. It depends on the situation, but Wolford said this can jam up traffic from 15 minutes to two hours.
鈥淥ur role is to make sure there are no hazards,鈥� Wolford said.
When a truck becomes stuck, it can be frustrating for those who live nearby.
Mackenzie Russell can see the railway from her backyard. If a truck that鈥檚 too tall is coming through too fast, she will know almost as soon as it happens.
鈥淟iterally, my house will shake from how loud that bang is,鈥� Russell said.
Russell and others who live on roads like Binotto Avenue, and Water and Simpson streets will often get blocked in as a result, interfering with neighbors getting to work or running errands.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 go anywhere if somebody hits the underpass 鈥� We鈥檙e stuck on our streets,鈥� Russell said.
She agrees that the frequency of the incidents has increased.
鈥淚t has gotten significantly worse,鈥� Russell said. 鈥淚f Boyce Road is closed for any reason, the GPS will send them this way. This is not the way to go.鈥�
Russell is the co-administrator of a private Facebook group that keeps track of the victims of the so-called 鈥淕eorgetown Scalper.鈥� Pictures shared to the page show box trucks that have been destroyed by the underpass. Sometimes just the roof is torn off, while others crumple and collapse.
The Facebook group keeps a tally of how long it has been since the last truck incident. On Monday, the count was at 16 days since the last 鈥渟calping.鈥�
鈥淲hich is shocking, at this point,鈥� Russell said.
Perhaps more than two weeks without an incident can be partly attributed to some colorful signs made by state Rep. Jason Ortitay.
Though there are already road signs warning about the underpass, Ortitay recently printed 11-foot signs with cartoon characters telling truck drivers, 鈥淭rust us, it won鈥檛 fit.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 kind of at a loss, so I made those other signs with the wizard and giraffe to try to poke a little fun at it to get a little bit more attention. I鈥檝e reached out to PennDOT, too, to see what else we can do over there, and I鈥檓 in the midst of having a conversation with them about what more we can do to get people to realize they cannot fit under this underpass,鈥� Ortitay said.
Ortitay said officials have also contacted companies with navigation apps such as Google, Apple and Waze to help remedy the issue.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a couple more ideas on what we can do to help fix it, but we鈥檙e really getting to the end here about what can and can鈥檛 be done,鈥� Ortitay said.