EATON TOWNSHIP – It’s only been one year since part of Route 29 near Tunkhannock was freshly paved, but PennDOT says there’s big problems already and claims it’s not the state’s fault.
At a distance you probably can’t see any problems along Route 29 near Tunkhannock, but take a closer look - cracks and a sinking road, causing trouble for some drivers.
"It`s all of Pennsylvania that I think some of the road conditions are deplorable. Some are better than others, I just think it depends on the area you`re in," said Audrey Krispin of Centermoreland.
Audrey Krispin shops here at Walmart off Route 29 in Wyoming County and says she hasn’t noticed these rough conditions more than any other road. But PennDOT says several people have sent in complains for this road that was paved only one year ago.
Mellia Evans is working to open an Ace Hardware store across the street here and says the cracks aren’t surprising to see because of the heavy truck traffic.
"Maybe they`re breaking up a little quicker than they should be and some attention should be paid to why it wasn`t done well in the beginning," said Brady & Cavany Ace Hardware Owner Mellia Evans.
PennDOT claims Walmart hired the contractor who paved this intersection here and the big box store is responsible for repairing the road. Walmart has yet to respond to our questions.
But for drivers who pass through this intersection every single day, they could be doing some damage to their car until this problem gets fixed.
"Basically what you could be looking at is any bent or damaged suspension components. You`d start to feel vibrations in the front end in the steering wheel," said Brenden McCormick employee Jack Williams Tire and Auto Center.
McCormick says customers here at Jack Williams just down the road from this problem haven’t complained about these issues just yet, but daily shoppers in this Walmart Supercenter – like Thomas Sickler of Thurston Hollow say it’s time something is done to help the roads.
"They need fixin’,” said Sickler.
And that’s something most everyone agrees with.
“Absolutely, whether it`s my vehicle or somebody else`s I would hope they would take care of whatever road conditions were necessary to allow safe travel,” said McCormick.