Luzerne County, PA -
A long-awaited highway project will finally get underway in Luzerne County.
The Hazleton Southwest Beltway Extension has been on the drawing board for nearly three decades. Now it will soon become a reality. As the I-Team's Andy Mehalshick tells us it's welcome news for people who work and live near the Humboldt Industrial Park.
"The traffic here at the light every day causes accidents. Daily accidents." Said James Jackowski, Convenience Store Manager.
At the entrance to the Humboldt Industrial Park near Hazleton Route 924 is jammed with thousands of vehicles every day. And it's been like that for nearly 20 years. James Jackowski manages a convenience store near the park's entrance he described what it is liked during shift changes.
“There are long lines at the light waiting to exit here, long lines people waiting to get in and the long lines back up on Route 924 into Hazleton."
All of that will end with the completion of the "Southwest Hazleton Beltway Project". It will connect Route 424..just North of the Industrial Park to Commerce Drive inside the park. It will be the second entrance and exit.
"There are over 10,000 jobs in this park. People should be able to go to work safely and securely and get home to their families quickly and this road will do all of those things." Said Dave Pedri, Luzerne County Manager.
The work was delayed because of a lack of funding. But now Luzerne County is steering a federal grant to the project.
"This road needed to be completed. PennDOT was putting up the majority of the funds but there was a local share of the $1.8 million dollars that needed to come and finish the road." Said Andy Reilly, Executive Director of Luzerne County Community Development.
The extension will have another benefit.
"Because of the congestion taking place right now we are limited to the amount of industries that we can actually located in the park. So actually having two entrances coming into the park means we can open up much more land for development." Said Kevin O'Donnell, CAN-DO, Economic Development Group.
If all goes as planned the new highway will be completed by 2022.
The county's $1.85 million will provide the remaining funding needed for a $4.1 million project to extend White Birch Road about a half mile in the Humboldt Industrial Park, said W. Kevin O'Donnell, president of the Hazleton area's economic development agency, CAN DO Inc.
This White Birch extension is required to proceed with a $20 million, state-funded extension of Route 424 so the two roads can connect, O'Donnell said. Route 424 is directly accessible from Interstate 81 and Routes 309 and 93 in the Hazleton area.
The state may seek bids for its 424 construction at the end of 2019, he said.
The current artery into Humboldt - Route 924 - is plagued with bottlenecks, O'Donnell said. Past road closures of this highway due to truck accidents have prevented workers from getting in and out of the park unless they opted for a lengthy detour on rural roads.
A traffic study discouraged further development within the 3,000-acre park until the new connector is finished, O'Donnell noted.
In addition to the 10,000 existing workers, thousands will be added for the holiday season at a few of the park's nearly 60 tenants, he said. IRIS USA is about to start construction of its 500,000-square-foot plastic manufacturing facility in the park, and Texas-based developer Trammell Crow Co. is constructing a 420,000-square-foot building based on speculation it will attract a tenant, O'Donnell said.
“The I-81 corridor is hot,” he said. “A lot is happening - not just in Hazleton, but also in Wilkes-Barre and Scranton.”
Hazle Township Supervisor Chairman Jim Montone said Route 924 is a “nightmare,” especially during Humboldt shift changes.
https://www.pahomepage.com/news/hazleton-southwest-beltway-project-becomes-a-reality/1463247021
