A plan to widen one of our region's most dangerous highways is facing a bumpy road. PennDOT says an Interstate 80 expansion project could force the demolition of more than 100 homes and businesses.
One of those belongs to Tony DeBuono, who loves his quiet neighborhood in Stroudsburg.
"It's just a beautiful place to live," he said. "It's a tight-knit community. Everybody knows everybody."
Under all three proposals under PennDOT consideration, most of DeBuono's neighborhood would be torn down. The agency plans to widen I-80 through Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg, adding lanes, extending on-ramps, and rebuilding overpasses between Exits 303 and 307.
"It's a very congested corridor," said PennDOT project manager Heather Heeter. "They all have very short acceleration and deceleration lanes, and that's one of the reasons for a lot of the accidents that happen out on the interstate."
PennDOT and federal transportation officials plan to narrow the options from three to just one by Spring 2015. Construction wouldn't start until at least 2022, according to Heeter.
But as busy as the highway is, and as badly as it needs to be widened, some people have real concerns.
"That would put a lot of people out of homes," said Steve Jurewick of Cresco. "That's not the solution either, I don't think."
The plans would demolish up to 106 homes and businesses. Stroudsburg borough leaders are worried about raising taxes to offset the losses.
"If you're going to ruin neighborhoods, you're going to ruin people's lives," said Shannie Thacker of Stroudsburg.
Some residents have suggested building a new interstate to bypass the Strousburgs.
"A bypass really isn't going to happen," said Heeter.
Heeter said a new highway, running through mountainous terrain, would take decades to plan and build. Plus, it would have to connect to the existing I-80 in New Jersey at the Delaware Water Gap.
"Any time you're putting a road where one doesn't exist, the environmental impacts … are so difficult to get through that it's almost impossible," she said.
Tony DeBuono knows he will likely lose his home in a few years.
"I don't like the idea," he said.
He knows the road to progress is paved with painful sacrifices.
from 69News:Home http://ift.tt/1z9Zxic
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