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Pothole Patching Planned For Carbondale and Simpson

CARBONDALE — Traffic was tied up in Lackawanna County’s up-valley Friday. But, despite the inconvenience, folks in Carbondale and Simpson welcomed t...
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CARBONDALE -- Traffic was tied up in Lackawanna County's up-valley Friday. But, despite the inconvenience, folks in Carbondale and Simpson welcomed the pothole patching.

PennDOT crews patched potholes on State Route 171, better known as Belmont Street in Carbondale and Main Street in Simpson.

The work was more than welcome.

"I hit potholes all the time, I lost two hubcaps from hitting them. They're really deep potholes," said Robin Waller of Simpson.

PennDOT says the work should take two days with traffic down to one lane. Their advice? Take another route.

A little delay actually turned out to be the least of people`s worries. Most of the folks who spoke with Newswatch 16 wish that PennDOT would do more work here.

"They haven't, they haven't done anything here, and  I've been here since 1964!" said Thomas Dragwa.

Dragwa told Newswatch 16 that in all that time, there's never been an overhaul on the road outside his family's business - McGee's.  The ice cream and floral shop hybrid was noticeably slow on this sunny day.

"I'd be better off if they did it in the fall of the year when we're not in business,"  Dragwa added.

Monroe Gardner did stop by for a milkshake but took a detour to do so.

"Go the back way, past Kennedy Park down to Crystal Lake Road, to Dundaff Street down to Carbondale," Gardner said.

Taking the back way is an OK alternative for most of the people affected by the project.  It's worth the wait for a smoother ride.

"I wish they'd pave the whole thing, it looks like they're just doing patchwork now," Gardner added.

There is no word on whether PennDOT has any long-term plans to pave State Route 171.  Crews will continue pothole patching on Monday starting at 7:00 am.

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