The proposed Scranton Beltway for bypassing Interstate 81 between Dupont and South Abington Twp. will happen a year later than expected, but officials plan to host a public hearing next fall on the chosen alignment.
Pennsylvania Turnpike officials could not say exactly why the estimated $170 million project was pushed back a year, but the officials previously said the turnpike’s ongoing financial problems could delay six projects, including the beltway. Construction now is expected to begin in early 2023 and end in late 2026, according to a schedule mailed to potentially affected landowners.
The beltway would connect I-81 to the turnpike’s Northeast Extension in Dupont and South Abington Twp., where the turnpike ends.
Turnpike project manager Mark Raup insisted engineers haven’t settled on an alignment and don’t know precisely whose land the turnpike will need. Preliminary engineering, which will answer both questions, is about halfway done and should finish up in the middle of next year, Raup said. After that, the turnpike will seek approvals from environmental and other agencies. Approval delays could delay the hearing. Final design will begin after the hearing, which could produce adjustments to plans, he said.
“By law, we can’t take property that we don’t need,” turnpike spokesman Carl DeFebo said. “I’ve been around here for a couple of decades and I know that the engineers are very conscientious about that.”
Once engineers determine the alignment and land needs, the turnpike will officially notify homeowners who face relocation well before the public hearing.
“We haven’t sent out any letters to anybody saying they’re going to be affected because we don’t know that,” Raup said. “We’re still at the stage where we’re trying to figure it (the alignment) out. We haven’t submitted anything or got any official reviews from other agencies that have to buy into what we end up thinking it’s going to look like.”
Proponents want the beltway to relieve increasing traffic congestion on I-81, which passes over the turnpike in Moosic. The highways roughly parallel each other north and south of there. About 10,000 vehicles travel the turnpike daily between the two points compared to up to 70,000 on I-81. Estimates project removing 2,500 vehicles from I-81 northbound and 2,200 from I-81 southbound with 2,100 in each direction being trucks.
“This is really all about providing options to travelers,” DeFebo said.
Opponents expressed doubts that trucks would use the beltway much. Vehicles will be able to enter the beltway at highway speeds.
Last year, the turnpike sent letters to dozens of home and landowners notifying them engineers would enter their land to conduct surveys. The letters alarmed landowners like Wally and Ann Tompkins, who live on Willow Lane in South Abington Twp. and worry they might have to move to make room for the beltway.
“Our neighborhood and our neighbors are so frantic about the future and what’s going to happen,” Ann Tompkins said. “(Interstate) 81 is in our backyard.”
They have heard little since the letters, and are trying to arrange a meeting with turnpike and township officials to get an update. Raup said the turnpike does its best to keep the public up to date through email newsletters and its website, which lists the present schedule, but for now there’s little to report.
The turnpike paid Urban Engineers Inc. of Philadelphia about $2 million for the preliminary engineering work, Raup said. The company will do the final design on either the Dupont or South Abington Twp. connecting road with another still unchosen firm designing whichever Urban Engineers doesn’t.
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