The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission held two public meetings this week about the Scranton Beltway Project.
The over $200 million regional transportation project was proposed by the commission in 2018. It’s meant to direct more traffic onto the Northeast Extension of the turnpike, easing congestion on Interstate 81.
Some residents in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties may also lose a portion of or all their homes to the project.
If completed, drivers on I-81 between Pittston in Luzerne County and South Abington Twp. in Lackawanna County — which is about 13 miles — will have the option to make high-speed connections north or southbound from the interstate and onto Route 476, which is the turnpike. The beltway will have fees.
Building the beltway wouldn’t begin until 2029 at the earliest. However, the turnpike commission is already sending out letters to let residents in both counties know they need to acquire either a portion of or their entire property to construct the beltway.
"That eminent domain code is set up to make sure everybody's treated fairly right throughout the process," said Kevin Scheurich, an assistant chief engineer for design with the turnpike.
The law gives the government the power to take properties. It must be for public use, which traditionally means projects to build roads or bridges. Property owners must be paid a fair market value for their homes.
Plans for the project are about 30% complete, Scheurich said Monday at the Martin L. Mattei Middle School in Pittston. It was the first of the two public meetings.
"That's where we are tonight," he said. "We have enough information to share with the public."
He did not have specific numbers about the properties that may be acquired.
"That can be somewhat fluid as we move throughout final design," he said.
At both meetings, community members looked at plans posted up throughout both the middle school cafeteria and at the Best Western in Clarks Summit. There was a much larger turnout at Tuesday's meeting. Turnpike representatives were on hand to answer any questions.
Daneen Reese of Clarks Summit received a letter that the entirety of her almost seven-acre family homestead on Edella Road will need to be acquired by the commission.
"There's a lot of history, heartache and love," she said.
Reese has lived in the house since she was born, 70 years ago. The marble fireplace was chiseled by her father. There’s a stone wall on the property that her great-grandfather built.
The beltway isn’t the first road project to impact the property. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) purchased land from her family to build I-81.
Reese can’t justify why they’re doing the project. Because she lives so close to I-81, she can count the semi-trailer trucks that drive by.
"There's not an excessive amount of traffic," she said. "The only time there has been a backlog is if there's construction or if there's an accident.”
Scheurich said about 70,000 vehicles use I-81 a day between Pittston and Clarks Summit. But only about 11,000 use the turnpike. Right now, to get onto the turnpike in Pittston drivers have to exit I-81, drive briefly on Route 315 and take a ramp onto 476. In Clarks Summit, it’s more fluid of an exchange.
"This would provide an option at a higher rate of speed ... to enter the turnpike," said Scheurich. "Of course, you would be paying tolls, versus sitting in traffic. And we're building it basically as an investment. We know that it's going to draw more traffic to the to the turnpike."
Since 2018, Reese and her neighbors have only received what she called scripted responses from the turnpike commission.
Reese, who has learned to block out the noise of I-81, said she's put off home improvement projects since the beltway was first proposed in 2018. She doesn't want to put a new roof on her house or countertops in her kitchen if the turnpike commission is just going to bulldoze her home.
"It's been a heartbreak since 18," she said.
The over $200 million project includes building ramps and retaining and noise walls. Scheurich said because of the high speed connections, the curves need to be softer and long sweeping. The commission will need third-party permits and have to move utilities.
The beltway is being funded through turnpike toll revenue and $40 million in Federal Funds through PennDOT. The turnpike is run by a commission, which is separate from PennDOT.
The commission is expecting to complete the final engineering design between 2024 and 2028, with construction between 2029 and 2032.
"There's a reason that we push a project out of 30%. We want public input," he said. "And I have to imagine that there'll be some changes between now and the four years when we finished the job.”
A formal public hearing about the project is anticipated to be held in 2024.
For more details, visit https://www.paturnpike.com/traveling/construction/site/scranton-beltway
