Hole in wall on Mansion House Hill brings PennDOT back to work on Route 209

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is once again planning work on the Mansion House Hill in Mahoning Township.

This time the southbound lane of Route 209 leading into Jim Thorpe has been closed because of a deteriorating wall.

The southbound lane was closed by PennDOT Wednesday afternoon after the collapse was noticed, according to Ron Young, PennDOT information officer for District 5.

Young said that during the rock slide mitigation work back in the fall, workers noticed a section of that wall where there’s a drainage pipe that comes out and transfers the water down the hill.

It had some deterioration, so they were inspecting it every two weeks, and on Wednesday saw a hole opened up in the wall on the shoulder of the roadway, he said.

This afternoon, Young said he was called and told they were able to obtain a barrier and that it had been placed.

“Another spot is (a) few hundred feet south of that one (that) hasn’t developed into a full blown hole like this one has,” Young said.

Young said he’s unsure how much the work will cost.

While the work is underway, he said traffic will be reduced to a single lane in each direction, meaning the extra lane going up the mountain will be restricted, and at peak times there could be some delays.

Last month, details were shared on PennDOT’s upcoming Route 209 Mansion House Hill Rock Slide Project.

The $3 million project will include the removal of loose rocks from Flagstaff Mountain between Jim Thorpe and Lehighton, the improvement of a retaining wall and shoulder and the installation of netting.

A rock removal project on the Mansion House Hill along Route 209 between Lehighton and Jim Thorpe was just completed Oct. 19.

The project was the result of a Sept. 8 rock slide in which multiple large rocks slid off the side of the mountain alongside Route 209 between Race Street and Oak Avenue.

A car was damaged, but there were no injuries during that incident.