A winding mountainside road leading into and out of Pottsville was closed indefinitely on Wednesday.
The road is often referred to as Hillside, however, it’s actually Hotel St. and then turns into Cressona Rd. as you leave the city. The closure is in place from Morris St., by Centre St. Hardware, to Calvary St., near Calvary Cemetery.
This particular stretch of road has long been in less-than-desirable condition. But the road closure on Wednesday was prompted by significant recent deterioration of the road’s condition following heavy rainfall, according to Ian Mahal, Pottsville City Administrator.
Mahal said he and Streets Superintendent Tom Whitaker met on scene on Friday to examine the condition of the road. That’s when a large hole in the road was seen.
On Monday, the city’s engineering firm, Alfred Benesch, surveyed the condition of the road and said a patch repair would not serve as a long-term solution. But that long-term solution will likely cost several million dollars.
“We are not going to patch this thing up forever. We are going to examine long-term solutions for this road,” Mahal said. “It’s not an overnight fix.”
However, a decision was made to get a patch repair done in the interim while the engineers come up with a long-term solution.
“We said we need to patch this now and then we need to come up with a long-term solution. This is going to be a mini Frackville Grade. That is where this is heading,” Mahal said. “I’m looking at longterm solutions for fixing the road. This patch job is a patch job. It’s an emergency situation.”
PennDOT, which provided the signage and barricades to close this stretch of road, told the City that it was not feasible to keep one lane of the circuitous road open while the patch repairs were completed.
B&H Landscaping is conducting emergency repairs on the roadway, Mahal said. The contractor was brought in due to current manpower shortages in the Pottsville Street Dept.
Mahal said the City is down four Street Dept. workers at the time being.
When the patch repairs are completed, the City’s engineering firm will review the work and make recommendations for going forward. Mahal said it’s possible that this stretch of road could be re-opened by the weekend or it could remain closed indefinitely.
Mahal said it’s “way too early” to know if the road will become a permanent one-way street, addressing claims swirling on social media.
He said he’s reached out to State Sen. Dave Argall’s office regarding resources for a long-term solution to this road’s future.
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