DUNMORE, Pa. — With the 2024 construction season nearing an end, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation District 4 Executive Rich Roman addressed the current status of projects PennDOT began earlier in the year.
"We have about $1.1 billion worth of value of projects in our six counties that, that addressing roads and bridges that we use and travel on every day," said Roman.
Across six counties, Roman says PennDOT completed dozens of projects totaling 140 miles of paving and 150 rehabilitated bridges.
Examples include the Suscon Road Bridge Replacement project in Luzerne County and the Route 435 flyover exit ramp in Lackawanna County.
"These are higher-level projects on roads that have tremendous ADTs and truck traffic," said Roman. "So we're proud to get through this season with 140 miles and 150 bridges done safely and done with quality."
Roman credits good weather for the productive construction season but says there were some setbacks, "So largely Mother Nature was on our side minus the flooding in August. And up until just maybe two weeks ago, we had great temperatures and great weather to get things done. But it really seems like now that Mother Nature in winter has, has put a hold on what we're doing," he said.
Not every project wrapped up in 2024.
Construction sites like here at Parker Street Bridge are expected to continue into 2025. Officials with the state tell us they will be joined by an estimated $300 million in new projects.
"About two-thirds of that is gonna be on the interstate. So we're finally gonna be doing the Gibson Interchange in Susquehanna County on Interstate 81. We're gonna be doing some other higher-level improvements on 81 in Lackawanna, Luzerne County," said Roman.
Officials say next year the majority of PennDOT's projects in the District 4 area will be bridge repairs, along with other new jobs.