Notice a tree leaning over the road? Here’s who you call [Lancaster Watchdog]

• By Lucy Albright/LNP | LancasterOnline

Almost all winter, Sharon Kreider and her husband had their eyes on several trees along Kirkwood Pike (Route 472) in Colerain Township.

Kreider, a Colerain Township resident who drives the road several times a week, contacted the Watchdog about one such tree, which leans out over a section of the 1300 block of Kirkwood Pike near Black Rock Retreat.

Kreider said the tree is a concern for her and her husband, especially in light of an April incident on the same section of Kirkwood Pike where a tree fell on a moving vehicle, injuring two people.

Severe rain and inclement weather caused several trees in the area to fall, Pennsylvania State Police Trooper James T. Grothey said by email. He said the people in the vehicle were checked out at a hospital after the accident, but had no information on their injuries or how long they were hospitalized.

When Kreider and her husband heard about the accident on the news, “we initially just knew where it was going to be, because we’ve been watching so many trees along there that just are leaning across that stretch of the highway.”

Kreider wanted to know if something could be done before someone else is injured.

Who to call
All public roads in Pennsylvania are the responsibility of either the state or a municipality. In the case of Kirkwood Pike, a state road, people can contact the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation at 1-800-349-7623 for non-urgent concerns. The department has a webpage (lanc.news/CCC) where people can submit complaints related to roads, PennDOT District 8 spokesperson Fritzi Schreffler said. Urgent, non-life threatening issues can be reported to PennDOT’s county offices (Lancaster County’s can be reached at 717-299-7621), according to the PennDOT website.

If you find a tree that has already fallen on a road, Schreffler said, call 911. When trees fall, it’s usually related to a storm, she said.

When reporting a problem tree, give as much information as you can, Schreffler said. Include a location such as a cross street or nearby address in addition to the name of the road it’s on.

Municipalities have their own channels for submitting complaints, whether that’s by phone or online.

If you see a potentially hazardous tree leaning over a Lancaster city road, for example, you can make a report using the Fix It Lancaster app or at lanc.news/FixIt, according to the mayor’s office deputy chief of staff Wyatt Behringer. Nonurgent requests can be made at 717-291-4711, but urgent issues should be directed to the Lancaster City Bureau of Police nonemergency number at 717-664-1180, Behringer said.

In Conoy Township, fallen trees or trees leaning over roads can be reported to the township office by calling 717-367-4927 during work hours, municipal administrator and treasurer Jennifer Rabuck said. To report a fallen tree outside of work hours, contact the Susquehanna Regional Police Department at 1-800-957-2677, she said.

A list of the county’s 60 municipalities that includes links to most of their websites is available at lanc.news/lancomunicipalities.