MOOSIC, Pa. -- Drivers in one part of Lackawanna County will soon see improvements on a few roads, and according to people who live there, it's a long time coming.
An announcement from PennDOT has many people who live and work in Old Forge and Moosic saying either "finally!" or "I'll believe when I see it."
"Surprised, very surprised," Buddy Prusinski said. "We've been waiting a long time, and I just hope it comes through."
PennDOT expects to start paving four roads in Lackawanna County next week.
Prusinski owns Berlew's Hoagies on Main Street in Moosic, one of the roads included in the project. He compares driving on Main Street to a hayride, and his customers agree.
"About two out of every five people come in and ask when the road's going to be done. 'When's it going to be done?' so they'll be happy when it's done."
Other roads included in the project are Oak Street and Moosic Road in Old Forge, and Spring Street in Moosic.
The project has been delayed several times due to prep work, such as replacing gas lines or adding handicap-accessible ramps.
"They've been down here working, but it's a lot of the work that you really can't see. You know, when they're out here just digging up a road to move a gas line from underneath the road to underneath a sidewalk, the public doesn't really see that and doesn't really feel it in the way that their car rides. If anything, it's worse for a little while," said PennDOT official James May.
"Really surprised me because they've been promising this for about two and a half years now. Every time you turn around, they're ripping it up, paving it over, ripping it up, paving it over," Hank Zakoski said.
Weather permitting, PennDOT hopes to have paving on all four roads completed by the end of the year.