A Butler Eagle file photo from February 2020, shows workers reviewing the damage after a car carrier became stuck as it attempted to travel under the railroad bridge on McCalmont Road in Penn Township. Although they don’t always hit the bridge, tractor trailers cannot turn around once their GPS leads them to the precarious spot on McCalmont. Butler Eagle file photo

The Butler Township police chief is growing tired of his officers being dispatched to the scene of yet another tractor-trailer unable to maneuver near the Connoquenessing Creek on McCalmont Road.

Chief John Hays said the latest truck driver to discover he could not make the turn onto the one-lane bridge and get through the narrow trestle Thursday, April 13, received a traffic citation from his officers.

As usual, McCalmont Road was blocked off at both the Meridian Road end and at Route 8 near the auto dealerships.

The road was inaccessible to traffic for more than two hours.

Hays said most truck drivers tell officers their GPS directed them to get off Route 68 at Whitestown Road and use McCalmont to get to Route 8 at the Butler/Penn Township border.

He said most navigation systems are meant for passenger cars, and can lead big rigs to sticky situations, as in McCalmont Road.

One driver told Hays the navigation systems for tractor-trailers are too expensive.

Hays said personnel from Malinski’s Towing eventually got the truck turned around on Thursday, and McCalmont Road was reopened.

Sometimes, trucks coming from the Route 8 side hit the trestle in addition to becoming stuck at the rural site.

The bridge was spared on Thursday, Hays said.

Because of the regularity of the situation on McCalmont Road, Hays plans to contact the state Department of Transportation and ask officials there to place a sign at the entrance to the road on either side warning drivers they will encounter a one-lane bridge and trestle, along with the trestle’s height.