JACKSON TOWNSHIP -- Repairs have begun on a crumbling road in Susquehanna County.
A day after we showed you how Route 547 was literally falling apart, a natural gas company has a crew repaving and repairing miles of problem spots. Drivers are relieved to see it.
The work crew was ripping apart what was left of crumbling Route 547 in Susquehanna County. Work has begun to repair many spots along a six-mile stretch of the road from the Harford exit of Interstate 81 to the New Milford area.
On Monday, we showed you how the road was falling apart in spot after spot; so much so, that it was tough for drivers to even stay in their own lane.
“It wasn't too bad until Sunday and yesterday. Sunday and yesterday, it started breaking up real bad,” said Ed Towner of Jackson Township.
It got so bad that Cabot Oil and Gas hired the crew to start repaving. A Cabot spokesperson says this is a state road, but company officials felt it was worth their while to make the repairs and benefit the community as well. A lot of trucks serving the natural gas industry use the road.
“That's what I heard on television last night. You were saying that Cabot's going to take care of it. That's good, that's good, they should,” Towner said.
Robert Nikitopoulos was glad to see the repairs underway and amazed at how bad this road had become.
“With the money they're making, they should be paying for it,” Nikitopoulos said. “We got all these water trucks that these roads just aren't able to handle."
Conditions were not ideal to be paving and in fact laying the asphalt is considered a temporary fix but those around here say anything is better than the way it was.
“It's dangerous with a truck this size, you've got to be careful,” said Barry Heller.
Heller drives a propane delivery truck. He says 547 is tough to navigate. But he says the gas companies have been good at repairing a lot of roads in the area.
Not only does Cabot have crews paving but also doing quick fixes to really bad spots, to prevent crashes before they can be paved.
“They should,” said Heller. “I think they should come in and fix what they broke.”
The work along Route 547 is expected to continue this week, until all of the many crumbling parts of the road can be repaired.