x
Breaking News
More () »

Route 309 Construction Delayed Due To Detected ‘Earth Seam’

HANOVER TOWNSHIP — Drivers have been dealing with construction on Route 309’s northbound lanes between Mountain Top and Wilkes-Barre for more than a...

HANOVER TOWNSHIP -- Drivers have been dealing with construction on Route 309's northbound lanes between Mountain Top and Wilkes-Barre for more than a year. Crews are working on a project to push back the mountain to improve drainage. But now, the only thing being pushed back is the project's completion date.

“If you've ever done work on your house or your car, you know sometimes you get started on a project, you don't know all the details about what's going on inside the project," explained James May of PennDOT.

May says this latest delay comes after crews found an "earth seam," which is sort of like a cave of dirt within the rock of the mountain. If left exposed, the earth seam could erode and the mountain could crumble. So, crews put up a temporary fix.

“They piled all this rock and dirt that we're standing on, they piled it on the earth seam to basically hold it in place,” May said.

Crews can usually detect earth seams, but the steepness of the road in Hanover Township made that difficult for this project. To fix it, crews are going to fill the mountain with a concrete cap.

Drivers say they're upset because the project was nearly completed. Now, PennDOT expects it won't be finished until the summer— and will cost an extra $800,000.

"I think they're wasting the taxpayers' money, really. I think they should have paved the road and left it the way it was, really,” said Joe Sauerwine of Mountain Top.

“It's really hard not to be frustrated,” added Dan Kelleher of Mountain Top.

Total price tag for the project, including this latest delay stands at $7 million.

PennDOT says drivers on Northbound 309 between Mountain Top and Wilkes-Barre can expect a single lane of traffic through the summer.

Before You Leave, Check This Out