Luzerne County road and bridge projects discussed in town hall

Approximately 20 Luzerne County residents and government representatives attended a Thursday night town hall about county-owned infrastructure.

County Manager Romilda Crocamo scheduled the session at the county Operations Building in Wyoming to brief citizens on current and planned road and bridge projects and obtain public input.

County residents often cite infrastructure repairs as a top priority.

The county has approximately 120 miles of roads and 300 bridges and culverts scattered within its boundaries, many of which were inherited from municipalities during the Great Depression.

The projects highlighted Thursday:

• Broadway Road, Ross Township

Drainage work, paving, and the addition of bike lanes on a one-mile stretch will be completed by early August. The $1.06 million project was funded with a $776,500 Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Multimodal Grant and $285,712 county match.

• Harris Hill Road Bridge, Kingston Township

The bridge replacement project is set for completion by early October. County Council approved a $1.9 million earmark for the project in September 2024 using federal American Rescue Plan Act interest earnings.

• Lower Demunds Road, Dallas Township

Drainage work and paving of a 1.97-mile stretch were recently completed. The $1.59 million project was covered by American Rescue funds council had earmarked at the end of 2024.

• Sweet Valley Road, Ross Township

Drainage work is underway, and paving is expected to be completed by early August. U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Dallas, helped secure $1.55 million from the Federal Highway Administration to complete the project.

Future road projects

The following pending or planned projects were cited in the report:

• Main Road in Hunlock and Ross townships

This project is expected to be bid out this month and will include drainage enhancements and paving of at least two miles, it said. Meuser had secured $2.5 million in federal funding through 2024 appropriations legislation to fund the project.

• Crestwood Industrial Park in Wright Township

This project will improve existing roadway drainage structures and must be completed before the end of this year because it is covered by American Rescue funding.

Crocamo noted the county also owns roads in the Hanover Industrial Park, and maintaining them is a challenge due to the constant truck traffic. The administration is attempting to establish a way for businesses in these parks to help pay for road maintenance, she said.

• Honey Hole Road in Butler Township

Community Development funding was identified to pave a portion of the roadway by the end of October.

• Patla Road Bridge in Ross Township and Kisenwether Bridge in Sugarloaf Township

Both are slated for replacement, but funding must be identified. The county withdrew American Rescue earmarks for the projects because a requirement for bat population studies meant the work could not be completed by the deadline at the end of this year, officials said.

• Small bridge bundle of seven or eight bridges with locations to be determined

Infrastructure neglected

Crocamo said county road and bridge maintenance “took a back seat” for decades, and the administration is committed to addressing needs on a staff that has dwindled from 40 workers years ago to a current seven. The process of advancing a project to construction “isn’t as simple as picking up a shovel” because the administration must identify funding and address permitting, engineering, environmental compliance, right-of-way issues, and coordination across multiple agencies “before a single piece of equipment moves,” she said.

She commended county Operational Services Division Head Michele Sparich and county Operational Services Project Management Director Nick Vough, saying they “carry this entire program on their shoulders with a fraction of the staff this county once had.”

During the question portion, a citizen expressed frustration about the Miller Road Bridge culvert in Exeter Township, saying he must go four miles out of his way during the two years it has been closed.

County officials said funding has been secured, and Reilly Associates in Pittston — the county’s outside engineer — is working on a project scope and schedule.

Tom Reilly, president of Reilly Associates, attended the town hall and said the project may be completed in the spring or summer of 2027 if permitting and other requirements are met to bid it out this fall.

A woman asked why the county invested $8.3 million in American Rescue funding on the county-owned Wyoming Valley Airport in Forty Fort and Wyoming.

Crocamo said council had approved that investment based on a master plan. The project includes the construction of two airport hangars that will generate rental income for the county and a new jet fuel tank to service medevac helicopters, she said.

The airport upgrades are part of efforts to improve the corridor and help with economic development, she added.

Others sought information on replacement of the county-owned Firefighters’ Memorial Bridge over the Susquehanna River linking Pittston and West Pittston. Commonly known as the Water Street crossing, this bridge closed nearly five years ago, in August 2021, due to concerns over a bent eyebar, prompting a dramatic traffic increase on the nearby state-owned Spc. Dale J. Kridlo Bridge (Fort Jenkins) Bridge.

PennDOT had agreed to assume responsibility for replacing both spans as part of a bridge bundling project.

Reilly said the Firefighters’ Memorial Bridge replacement, which will be completed first, is on schedule to be bid out in October. A temporary bridge will be constructed to hold cranes needed to dismantle and remove the existing bridge and build piers and beams for the new crossing, he said.

Design features on the new bridge have been altered to ensure they don’t extend too far below the bridge and trap debris when the river rises, Reilly said.

Reilly also said the new bridge design will not create any issues if West Pittston eventually obtains a levee system.