Preliminary work where new bridges will carry Interstate 80 over Route 93 in Sugarloaf Twp. received funding from a regional transportation group on Tuesday.
The Lackawanna/Luzerne Metropolitan Planning Organization also allocated funds for Routes 11 and 92 in West Pittston, where a new bridge in planned in a few years, and added funding for improvements to Keystone Industrial Park Road in Dunmore, Lackawanna County.
In addition, the MPO heard updates on three summer projects and a transportation plan that will guide the organization through 2055.
For the Sugarloaf project, the MPO approved $1.5 million toward construction of the I-80 bridges. Work is set to start next year on the projects for which PennDOT has allocated $22 million.
Plans include reconstructing five ramps and repaving Route 93 in the intersection.
During construction Route 93 will narrow to one-lane without a shoulder, and 15-minute rolling stops for pier construction. Short-term detours will happen overnight when workers demolish existing bridges.
The intersection of Route 11 and Route 92 in West Pittston on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. Funds have been allocated to improve the intersection. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
The West Pittston project received $380,000 to improve an intersection that is one end point for a bridge to Pittston that PennDOT proposes replacing for $10.05 million. A schedule calls for the final design to be done in fiscal 2028.
In Dunmore, the MPO received $1.65 million from the Appalachian Regional Commission for improvements in Keystone Industrial Park. Two months ago, Dunmore Borough Council agreed to improve Keystone Industrial Park Road with $1.8 million in grants. The road will have new paving, and a bicycle lane will be added.
This summer, the group will direct projects in Dickson City, Moscow and Jenkins Twp.
The Dickson City project will complete a streetscape on Main Avenue from Jermyn and Dundaff streets and add bicycle lanes along Eagle Lane and Enterprise Street.
Moscow will get a new bridge that takes Drinker Turnpike over Van Brunt Creek.
The work in Jenkins Twp., adds signals, turning lanes and widens the intersection of Saylor Avenue and River Road.
When regional residents were asked in a survey for the long-range plan how they would spend transportation money, their most popular response was maintenance.
“One of the things that really surprised me was … that 33% would allocate their dollars toward maintenance activity,” Brian Funkhouser, senior transportation planner for Michael Baker International, the consultant compiling the plan, said. “… I think years ago, you’d probably see more people talking about adding capacity.”
In the survey, road pavement received the No. 1 priority followed by bridges and traffic flow with interstate highways and pedestrians rounding out the top five.
Funkhouser estimated funding for transportation projects in Luzerne and Lackawanna will stay flat, at about $71 million annually through 2055, but noted the buying power of those dollars will lessen because of inflation as years pass.
By January, Michael Baker is scheduled to finish the plan.
Before then, the firm will conduct more listening sessions, starting in September, to gauge public opinion.
Meanwhile, the MPO invites the public to answer two surveys.
In one, residents can suggest where in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties to install charging stations for electric vehicles. The survey is available at bit.ly/3Gpl811.
The other survey can found at surveymonkey.com/r/luzerne and it asks drivers and pedestrians to identify dangerous roads and intersections in Luzerne County.