SCHUYLKILL HAVEN, Pa. — Christopher Dillon from Bloomsburg travels every day for work to Denney Electric Supply along Route 61 in Schuylkill Haven. He and the rest of the staff worry about how PennDOT’s latest project will impact their commutes.
“I travel about 40 miles a day to get here every day, so that's going to extend my commute. It's going to make it hard to have staff here, especially for our contractors, so yeah, that's going to be a major concern,” said Dillon.
PennDOT plans to resurface a five-mile stretch of Route 61 from outside Schuylkill Haven to Pottsville. PennDOT expects the project to take five months. Traffic will be one lane in each direction where crews are working.
Dillon expects traffic backups will impact his employer.
“Contractors here, when they need their supplies for their day's work, will be here early in the morning, and they will be coming here all during the day. So yeah, accessibility to our business is very important," Dillon added.
"We try to minimize traffic to the traveling public and motorists as much as possible, but sometimes we have to get out there and do our work, and we'll try to keep the congestion down to a minimum,” said PennDOT official Sean Brown.
Brown says work to improve conditions on Route 61 in that area cannot be put off any longer.
“This project is a resurfacing project for a road that is heavily used by the commuters in Schuylkill County and the outside area. It's a major road up there. So, like much of our infrastructure, it needs work,” Brown said.
“We're at a point with a lot of this, it's going to need to be done, and I guess in some ways you have to make the sacrifice, but at the same time, you don't want your local businesses to suffer from it easier,” Dillon said.
PennDOT says work on the $7 million project will begin next Monday, and if the project stays on time, it will wrap up by the end of July."