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Contractors from PennDOT improve bike lanes along Route 6.
By Pat Camuso
LACKAWAXEN TOWNSHIP – Residents in one part of Pike County are tired of the deteriorating, state-owned roadways while PennDOT spends millions paving bicycle lanes.
According to Lackawaxen Township Supervisor Rich Krochta, complaints about road conditions are becoming commonplace at township meetings.
Krochta explained many state roads within the township are in critical need of repair including Route 6, Route 434, Greeley Lake Road, Towpath, Market Road and Route 4003 near White Oak Corners. He said that these roadways are in such need of repair that they are becoming downright dangerous. “Market Road is reverting back to being a gravel road,” said Krochta.
Krochta told the Pike County Press that the issue frustrates the board because whenever he tries to discuss it with PennDOT at Road Task Force meetings he is simply put off and nothing is getting done.
To further frustrate supervisors and residents, PennDOT is currently paving and improving the shoulders of Route 6 in Lackawaxen, Blooming Grove, Milford and Dingman townships for a bicycle lane. “The bike lane is going to be a lot better than Route 6, maybe the cars will drive along the shoulder,” said Krochta.
According to PennDOT, the bike lane project is financed by federal “stimulus” funds from the President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
Obama signed the ARRA on February 17 to “jumpstart the economy, save and create jobs, provide a helping hand to people affected by the recession, stabilize state and local budgets, and make investments that will provide long-term economic benefits.” Krochta wondered out loud how bicycle lanes fit into ARRA’s stated goals. Pennsylvania expects to receive an estimated $16 billion from the federal government’s stimulus funds.
PennDOT awarded a $1,997,235 contract to James D. Morrissey, Inc., Philadelphia, for the Pike County bike lane project which will connect areas where shoulders have been improved and widened two years ago. Krochta feels that funding would have been better spent repairing the many deteriorating roadways within the county. “Considering the shape of our roads, a bike lane makes no sense to me at all,” said Krochta.
Some residents have pointed out that given the very deteriorated condition of Route 6 in many places where the new bike lanes will go, they may simply have to drive on the shoulders – a dangerous condition for cyclists, pedestrians and motorists alike.
Hey, Karen is right! It is unfair to take off on the bicycle tracks. They are long overdue and if we don’t start having those special tracks atleast now, it will be too late and people will probably never shift to bikes!
I’m surprised someone isn’t talking about what’s going on when what little is being done to improve our roads is done in a manner that makes you want to tell them to get out of dogde. Rt 739 “repairs” are being done when the traffic is at a peak, leaving it’s citizens sitting for hours in hot cars, getting nowhere quickly and bankrupting the businesses who might otherwise make a living from those travelers. What happened to common sense, ingenuity, and just plain old consideration?
This article is somewat misleading. PennDOT has committed over $25 MILLION in resurfacing projects this season in Pike County alone! In addition to improving quality of life for the many Pike County tourists who bicycle, the “bike lane” project also addresses drainage issues which take their toll on our roadways. It also includes almost 5.5 miles of roadway resurfacing, not just shoulders, adding center line rumble strips (a safety feature) and more. In some areas because the road is bad, we are performing full-depth paving. I can provide a breakdown if anyone is interested, but roads included this year sections of SRs 2003, 6, 434, 2009, 739, 2001 and Interstate 84.