More than $2 million in grants to improve Lackawanna County roads, help pave way for second Dickson City Wawa

Yahoo

25-02-2025

More than $2 million in newly approved grants will improve roads and pedestrian safety throughout Lackawanna County, including helping pave the way for a project to build a Wawa on Main Street in Dickson City — the second proposed Wawa in the borough.
The state Department of Community and Economic Development announced Monday that the Commonwealth Financing Authority approved funding for 224 new projects across the state, totaling more than $87 million through the DCED's Multimodal Transportation Fund. The fund provides grants to encourage economic development and ensure that a safe and reliable system of transportation is available to the residents of the commonwealth, according to the DCED.
Projects in Lackawanna County will receive just over $2 million, in addition to Luzerne County projects receiving about $4.1 million. The Lackawanna County projects are:
Archbald: Business Route 6 and Betty Street traffic signal upgrade, $400,000.
Clarks Green: Roadway improvements along seven roads, $350,000.
Dickson City: Roadway safety improvements to the Main Street and Viewmont Drive intersection on behalf of Lackawanna Executive Park Dickson LLC, $350,000.
Dickson City: Streetscape on Boulevard Avenue and crosswalk installation, $400,000.
Dunmore: Installation of sidewalks along one block of Drinker Street, $184,589.
Scranton: Replacement of the South Webster Avenue Bridge, $350,000.
Dickson City Borough Manager Cesare Forconi said the Main Street and Viewmont Drive intersection improvements will enhance the right turning lane from Main onto Viewmont to create a smoother flow of traffic, noting lengthy rush-hour traffic jams.
Forconi hopes the improvements will alleviate any congestion from a proposed Wawa at the site of the Lackawanna Executive Park at the corner of Main Street and Viewmont Drive.
In a phone interview Monday, Jim Marzolino, the manager of the Lackawanna Executive Park Dickson LLC, said he conducted a traffic study with the borough for the site, and although the study recommended upgrades like timing improvements, the borough requested that they add an additional turning lane from Main Street onto Viewmont Drive, which his firm agreed to do. The turning lane will be on the executive park's property within Lackawanna County's right of way, he said.
'The grant funding, it afforded us the ability to meet Dickson City's request to add a turning lane,' Marzolino said. 'That's just a critical part of it.'
He intends to begin demolition of the existing Lackawanna Executive Park building by early July to prepare a site pad for Wawa to develop a new location.
The Lackawanna Executive Park on Main Avenue in Dickson City Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
He did not have a timeline for the road improvements or Wawa, though he plans to have the site pad prepared by Sept. 1.
Marzolino is also managing a project to develop a site pad for a Wawa along Cold Spring Road on Bell Mountain just above Business Route 6 in the borough. Marzolino said he works with Wawa's preferred developers to deliver the pads.
'We're just developing the land that we own,' he said. 'These are family holdings that we own already that we're just developing.'
The Main Street Wawa is the fourth proposed location in Lackawanna County for the Southern Pennsylvania-based gas station and convenience store chain. In addition to the two Dickson City locations, Wawa is also looking to open locations along Meredith and Main streets in Carbondale Twp. and at Moosic Street and Meadow Avenue in South Scranton.
Elsewhere in Dickson City, Forconi said the $400,000 for streetscape improvements will help fund the final phase of planned work for the borough's Main Street revitalization project on Boulevard Avenue from Main Street to Enterprise Street.
For the past decade, the borough has worked on a sweeping multimillion-dollar streetscape project along its Main Street, with work eventually carrying a slew of improvements from Hallstead Street to Dundaff Street before moving down Boulevard Avenue, including installing new sidewalks, new streetlights with decorative lampposts, new crosswalks, benches, planters with trees and new trash receptacles.
The Boulevard Avenue upgrades will tie into the borough's plans to add a bike lane to Enterprise Street, which then ties into the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail, Forconi said.
'It's all part of our master plan … and it is starting to come to fruition now,' he said. 'It's starting to come together.'
In Archbald, borough Manager Dan Markey said the $400,000 will help the borough upgrade three groups of traffic signals along Business Route 6 and Betty Street as part of an estimated $800,000 project. The existing lights are so old that the borough would be unable to find parts to repair them if they broke, Markey said.
State Rep. Bridget Kosierowski, D-114, Waverly Twp., and state Sen. Marty Flynn, D-22, Dunmore, touted the benefits of the new funding in statements Monday.
'Investing in our communities through CFA grants means safer streets, stronger bridges, and improved roadways for everyone,' Flynn said. 'These critical upgrades enhance pedestrian safety and help ensure our community members reach their destinations safely.'