RoadWork 209 + 447 (Franklin, Stroudsburg, Mars: construction, contractors, closing)

[Rogue0888]

Anyone know whats going on at this intersection? The past two mornings traffic is at a dead stop DURING COMMUTING TIME Due to some kind of road work that is closing two lanes. I tried looking at PENDOT site but i'm not finding this as a project. PoconoRecord has nothing yet either. This is a big problem for alot of folks that just need to get to work, why wouldn't we do something like this saaaaayyy after 9am?

[jtab4994]

Yeah I hit the same thing yesterday and today. Of course they'd choose to do this while the River Road bridge over the Brodhead Creek is closed.


Today the backup at BMF Road was worse than yesterday, so I took Franklin Hill Road to Independence Road. Was backed up coming down Independence Road (447) but not too bad.


On 96.7 (GITM) they said something about PennDOT moving the job to overnight hours, but there they were, in the daytime with the lanes shut down again. I think they are installing or replacing a culvert pipe.

[Rogue0888]

Hit the record

Marshalls Creek Madness: Route 209 work causing headaches - News - poconorecord.com - Stroudsburg, PA

[fisheye]

I used to drive 100,000 miles a year as a commercial truck driver. I drove to almost all of our states except AK, HI, WA, and OR. I would rate Monroe County's DOT as among the worst in the 46 states that I did drive in. To be fair, for many years I lived very close to our DOT she in Stroud Township; I saw how they operated and I never had the same up-close-and-personal perspective of the other DOT sheds nationwide. Perhaps if I looked at others through the magnifying glass I would view ours differently?

Many of us have driven through New Jersey during the off peak hours of the night and watched them lay asphalt. Many times New jersey would lay more asphalt in one night, during the off-peak hours, than we would in months. In other words; New Jersey has flexed their road work schedule to accommodate the citizens in their State.

PA and especially Monroe County will not work with the motorist on our roads. We drag out roadwork, we work on some of the busiest travel days of the year, we do superficial patches that will have to be redone the next year, we do not pursue contractors that do shoddy work, we bend over backwards to protect our workers - while our motorist are dying on our roads (I am just getting started!).

Our system does not work! Most of our roads have lasted long after their expected lifetime. They are shot - from below the ground up. You have to start out with the proper drainage system - most of our roads have crumbling old galvanized culverts that are filled up. The crushed rock no longer lets water escape because the holes have been filled with silt. many of our roads are broken concrete slabs that heave with the frost cycles - and we top that off with thin asphalt!

Keep in mind that PA has increased our fuel taxes twice in recent history. We pay in more than any other state and we get less bang for our bucks than many states.

If I had my way I would privatize District 5 and start off fresh. I would follow some of the suggestions offered by the NHTSA and either require the contractors to be bonded or require them to warranty their work. I would look to see if it is possible to rebuild from the ground up. I would work with the public and try to get as much done as possible during off-peak hours or rebuild our road shoulders and allow the lighter traffic to use those shoulders - I would try to keep traffic moving during construction.

Sorry - I get carried away on roadwork!