Runaway truck crashes into garage on South Walnut Street in W-B Township

WILKES-BARRE TWP. — Early Wednesday morning, a runaway truck carrying modular units ignored warning signs posted on what is commonly known as Giants Despair and veered onto Lehigh Street before smashing through the debris of a garage at 59 South Walnut St.

Again.

This wasn’t the first time residents of Lehigh Street in Wilkes-Barre Township have heard a tractor-trailer rumble past their homes. On Nov. 9, 2022, a tractor-trailer took the same route and slammed into the then-standing garage of Bernadine Elick — the same garage that was struck by a runaway truck on Nov. 9.

The latest incident has renewed concerns and outrage that nothing has been done to stop the large trucks from using Giants Despair, formerly Laurel Run Road, which leads to Northampton Street.

“The bottom line is the talking about a solution needs to become visible action to stop this from happening,” said Wilkes-Barre Township Police Chief Will Clark. “If not we can’t avert the next tragedy. And the people that lawfully travel that road daily and live at the bottom of the mountain are the ones who are at risk and they have had enough.”

Elick, 90, was not at home Wednesday when the truck, a GMC 3500 pulling a flatbed loaded with modular units, came down Lehigh Street and slammed into the pile of debris that was once her garage.

Elick’s son, former Wilkes-Barre Township Police Chief Ron Smith, was at the scene and he said his mother may have had a premonition.

“My mother has been recovering from a recent health issue and she hasn’t been staying here at the house,” Smith said. “But she did stay here one night and she called and said she couldn’t stay here anymore because she was afraid another truck would come down and hit her house.”

Smith said the debris from the Nov. 9 crash had not yet been cleared because the insurance claim has not been settled.

“Maybe that’s a good thing because the debris caused this truck to stop, or it could have continued down the hill into the house just below,” Smith said. “I lived here most of my life and nothing like this ever happened. Now we’ve had two almost exact same crashes just a couple months apart.”

Smith reiterated what many officials said in November — that truck drivers are using the wrong GPS site.

In November, Smith said he and others have raised concerns about the situation and despite warning signs that are ignored, truckers rely on their GPS for directions and alternate routes that send them down the steep hill that includes one turn known as “Devil’s Elbow.”

Chief Clark said the operators of these trucks continue to use “passenger car” level GPS to find the shortest routes to their destinations.

“And they end up, as in this case going down extremely steep hills, turning onto small alley ways and dead end roads, and using the neighborhood side streets of Georgetown as a runaway truck ramp,” Chief Clark said in November. “This is not acceptable.”

Township police said the driver of the truck sustained some minor injuries and was taken to a local hospital. An investigation is ongoing and police said charges will be filed against the driver.

The flatbed truck and the modular units were removed from the scene by Act Towing and Recovery Co.

The name of the company was handwritten on a window of the truck, a Dodge Ram 3500 pickup registered to Quintana Delivery Service, Inc., which is based in Brandon, Florida. Also written on the window was the company’s U.S. Department of Transportation number.

According to the police report, at 7:21 a.m. Wednesday, “a commercial vehicle operator indicated he did not see any of the signage prohibiting such commercial vehicles, where his brakes then stopped working while coming down Giant’s Despair and crashed into the already damaged garage.”

As a result of this crash, the school bus stop at Lehigh and South Walnut streets has been permanently moved to Metcalf Street and South Walnut Street for safety concerns.

PennDOT responds

Rich Roman, District Executive for PennDOT District 4, said PennDOT has been working with State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre, and other officials to address the situation.

”We are sorry to see this happen,” Roman said. “We are working with Rep. Pashinski and other officials to come up with a solution to make this road safer.”

Roman said the trucks are not adhering to the numerous traffic control signs posted on Route 115 and Giants Despair.

“Several signs are posted telling operators to turn off of Route 115 to Giants Despair and then divert them onto Pine Run Road to Route 309,” Roman said. “They are bypassing these warning signs and listening to their GPS. But GPS does not permit them to disregard those signs. If the signs were followed, these incidents wouldn’t happen.”

Pashinski’s comments

Rep. Pashinski said he recently held a collaborative roundtable with local and state officials, Pennsylvania State Police and PennDOT representatives, to address the dangers of overweight trucks traveling down the Giants Despair roadway.

“We have experienced several serious accidents on that road, tragically resulting in one death and considerable property damage,” Pashinski said. “All because trucks exceeding the 10-½ ton weight limit have ignored the current warning signs.”

During the meeting, Pashinski said the group discussed several suggestions to address this dangerous problem.

One proposal was to make the entrance from Route 115 onto Laurel Run Road a one-way from to the intersection of Oakridge Road and Laurel Run Road, approximately 150 to 200 yards from Route 115.

“PennDOT would conduct a standard analysis survey to determine the feasibility of this proposal,” Pashinski said. “In order to conduct this process, our local municipalities, that would be affected by this survey, would need to officially request PennDOT to institute this process.”

Pashinski said once the survey is completed, the information will be shared with all affected municipalities and then a meeting would be scheduled to discuss the results and potential solutions to this critical problem.

In addition to this survey, Pashinski said PennDOT and elected officials will also engage in conversations with Pennsylvania Turnpike officials to prevent trucks exceeding the 10-½ ton limit from exiting the turnpike at Exit 105 to Route 115 and proceed to the Pittston exit.

Pashinski said another solution is to contact the National and PA State Trucking Associations to share the information with their members and their affiliates, to educate and alert their drivers of the important change in routes and road restrictions.

“To address this concern, there will also be an attempt to increase fines on the trucking companies and the drivers for violating the weight limit requirements,” Pashinski said.

Pashinski also said PennDOT has begun changing, enlarging, and adding additional signs to the affected roadways in an attempt to prevent any more accidents until a final solution is reached.