Commissioner Alan Hall took the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) deputy secretary for tour of the state’s roads in Susquehanna County. Representatives from Northern Tier, as well as the PennDOT District 4 office in Dunmore also went along for the ride.
At the Wednesday, May 11 commissioners’ meeting, Hall said the group traveled from Lenox to Tingley Lake, SR 492, Steinbeck Corners to Susquehanna Depot before the group needed to take a break from the rough conditions.
In a Facebook message, Hall said, “As usual, when you get people from Harrisburg to take a look at our roads, they are amazed at how poor our roads are in Susquehanna County.”
From Susquehanna, the group moved along to the Hallstead/Great Bend area before traveling across the state line to New York before heading south on Route 29. “They were amazed” by the difference in road conditions (between the states), Hall said.
PennDOT provided the maps for the planned construction season, but Hall said, “We’ve already lost a month of the construction season in this county.” He said the agency was a month behind due to blacktop plants not opening until mid-April, and the county being hit by a late season winter storm.
“It has nothing to do with the (local employees), they do not have enough resources to get things done,” he said.
Hall said the tour provided some positive ideas, and that PennDOT will be looking at storm/tree response; and how to handle the tree canopy to better daylight the roads.
Hall advocated the county residents continue to call Harrisburg about road conditions.
“Even with the maps – as aggressive as they are – I don’t think they have the manpower to get it all done,” he said.
Potholes and other issues on state-maintained roads can be reported at customercare.penndot.gov.
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