Luzerne County tackling more deteriorated roads

As part of a continuing push to fix neglected infrastructure, Luzerne County is seeking bids to address the most deteriorated sections of two more roads and possibly a third.

The bids are for St. Mary’s and St. John’s roads in Dorrance and Hollenback townships. Bidders responding to the St. Mary’s project also have the option to submit prices to complete work on the Hobbie/Wapwallopen Road in the same municipalities.

County Engineer Lawrence Plesh said he is optimistic the county can cover all three with funds he is scraping together from state liquid fuels and other sources, although it will depend on the bid amounts.

The projects aren’t traditional paving, he said. Instead, contractors will be focusing on areas that have potholes and cracks because the underlying base is too thin, Plesh said.

“The problem with a lot of county roads is that they are not thick enough in certain places,” he said.

In a process known as “mechanical edge pavement,” contractors will cut out such sections and add more base, he said.

Plesh noted the current bids also include pothole and crack repair in sections that do not require beefed-up bases.

Work must be completed in this year’s construction season, or before Dec. 15, the bid postings say.

When additional funds become available in the future, the county will pave these entire roadways, he said.

Earlier this year, Plesh had estimated the 4.1-mile St. Mary’s Road project would cost $2.52 million, but he said that included full paving that is not included in the current bid. Similarly, his past estimate for 6.6-mile Hobbie Road was $3.96 million, which factored in paving.

“We do not have enough funds to do both the base repair and mill overlay at this time. I’m trying to stretch funds as best as I can,” Plesh said.

Council members have said they want to chip away at infrastructure needs as funds become available. Residents have increasingly called on county officials to address road repairs.

The county has approximately 120 miles of roads and 300 bridges scattered within its boundaries, many inherited from municipalities during the Great Depression, officials said. It relies heavily on state funding and grants to pay for most reconstruction and repairs.

American Rescue

In May, council voted to use $600,000 in federal American Rescue Plan funds to redo Kirby Avenue in Fairview Township, largely due to resident complaints about the poor condition of that road.

The following month, council allocated another $1.86 million from the American Rescue pot to repair and resurface a 3.1-mile stretch of Sweet Valley Road in Ross and Union townships.

Only a small portion of American Rescue funding was available for roads and other more discretionary purposes, officials have said.

Low-bidder New Enterprise Stone & Lime Co. will complete the Kirby Avenue project and is scheduled to start work this month, Plesh said. The project involve 1.2 miles, from the avenue’s intersections with Route 309 and Route 437, and will include drainage work and base repair in addition to paving. Work is expected to wrap up in October, Plesh said.

The Sweet Valley project has a similar scope but is still in design and won’t be targeted for completion until the end of June 2023, Plesh said.

State funding

Plesh expects to seek bids soon on two road projects primarily funded by the state — Hillside Road in Kingston and Jackson townships and West County Road in Sugarloaf Township.

Both involve base repair and resurfacing, he said.

Hillside will be funded through the Lackawanna/Luzerne Metropolitan Planning Organization, or MPO, Transportation Improvement Program and require a county match of approximately 20%, Plesh said. He expects to proceed with the work in spring 2023.

West County Road was primarily funded through a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Multimodal Grant and will include bike lanes.

Plesh said he is awaiting PennDOT clearances to bid out both projects.

Bridges

Several bridge rehabilitation/replacement projects are expected to be completed by the end of this year with funding obtained from multiple sources, according to a recent engineering department progress report posted online.

These include the following spans: Market Street in Salem Township; five bridges bundled as a package in Union Township; four bridges bundled in Butler Township; and the Kisenwether Road Bridge in Sugarloaf Township.

Among the other bridges set to be tackled in 2023, according to the report: Harris Hill Road, Kingston Township; Sleepy Hollow Road, Butler Township; and the Belles Hill Road Bridge and four other spans bundled as a package in Union Township.

Replacement of the Hillside Road Bridge in Kingston Township also is in the works — a project funded by the state’s award of a $2 million match for the county’s implementation of a $5 vehicle registration fee that council halted the end of 2021, the report said.

Future plans

The county’s newly approved annual capital plan listed several other road and bridge projects intended for completion.

Road projects include Oak Hill and Church roads in Wright Township; Broadway Road in Ross and Union townships; and Ransom Road in Dallas and Franklin townships.

The following bridges are listed in the plan: Heslop Road, Rice Township; Ftorkowski Road and Cherry Hill Road, Huntington Township; Chicks Lane, Black Creek Township; Stout Road, Nescopeck Township; and Beach Grove Road, Salem Township.

Another list of prioritized project totaling $54.9 million was compiled for the upcoming receipt of up to $55 million from casino gambling revenue for county infrastructure projects.

Replacement of the Nanticoke/West Nanticoke Bridge over the Susquehanna River tops the list, estimated at $51 million, followed by funding to address the most deteriorated sections of various roads. These roads include: Main Road in Hunlock and Ross townships; Lower and Upper Demunds Roads in Dallas and Franklin townships; Crestwood Drive in Wright Township; Old Airport Road in Butler Township; and Hanover Street in Hanover Township.