Visitor and highway safety problems

Dwarfskill and Hackers Falls incidents prompt township concerns DINGMAN — People seem to be flocking to see the scenic Hackers Falls, but it’s causing problems to Dingman Township environmental safety and road traffic, said Fire Chief Bill Mikulak. The falls were recently featured by “Swimming Hole Expert” Pancho Doll in Huffingtonpost.com as one of the top ten best waterholes in the United States. “Since the National Park Service closed the entrance to the Cliff Park Head Trail to the falls about a year ago by placing a gate across the entrance, people keep parking on the roadside. Sometimes there are two to six, sometimes 16 to 20 cars parked there, causing a safety hazard,” Mikulak told the township supervisors on Aug. 3. Coming down after the climb can be especially dangerous. Firefighters had had to do an environmental rescue over the weekend when people got stuck on top of the falls. The now-closed entrance is on the busy state Route 2001, on a narrow winding stretch that could easily result in an accident from passing cars. “We should post “no parking” signs,” suggested the board chair Tom Mincer, and after a discussion the board agreed to send a letter to the National Park Service to notify them of the situation, and asking for a possible “hazard” sign to be posted, among other safety measures. Another public road safety issue concerned the board, as Mikulak continued his report. Mikulak has been raising alarms over construction at the Dwarfskill Bridge on Log Cabin Road and there was a recent incident, in which a truck started to come across the bridge when someone was already crossing from the other side. The truck started backing up before realizing there was a Jeep behind him, resulting in an emergency call. Poor sight lines cause problems due to the shape of the bridge and surrounding terrain. Mikulak called the Leeward project engineer who said nothing could be done, and also talked to PennDOT about the issue, adding there may have been traffic light problems but they seemed okay now. “This project will go on straight to March now, instead of November”, said Mikulak, adding, “We need help.” “There are trees blocking vision on entrance to the bridge particularly from Milford side, and it’s flanked by hills on both sides,” said Mincer. “Let’s get pro-active,” he added, referring to the probable hazardous scenario in freezing November conditions when vehicles come down the hill to an abrupt stop at the bridge. The board agreed to send a letter to PennDOT alerting them to the problem before cold weather.