LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — PennDOT officials broke down the 2021 construction season by the numbers. Monday: 200 miles of road paved and 55 bridges fixed.
"We did 68 construction projects, for a total of $197 million," District 4 executive Richard Roman said in a news conference.
District 4 includes Lackawanna, Luzerne, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne, and Wyoming counties.
Each one had significant storm damage in 2021.
"I think some of the challenges were some of the weather events that came our away," Roman added.
Storms named Ida and Henri accounted for the majority of emergency road projects this year.
"There were a lot of roads that washed away, a lot of bridges had issues that we had to deal with. They're unexpected, so that's adding on to our list of projects and our program," Roman said.
The list of projects is expected to be longer in 2022. The federal infrastructure bill will send about $1 billion to Pennsylvania for road projects. District 4 is expecting to see about $55 million of that.
"There's terms and conditions that really come with the law, and we're just getting that information as far as, what is the flavor of the money, what can it be used for, what type of system, how much for roadways, bridges, different types of enhancements. So, we're just getting those rules of engagement now," Roman said.
While it's too early to tell exactly how PennDOT will spend all that money, Roman told Newswatch 16 he sees two main areas to focus on.
"First is our interstate pavement quality. Second would be our bridge conditions. As I said, we're a six-county region, and we're responsible for 2,100 state-owned bridges," he said.
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