HONESDALE, PA — Combine Congressional hand wringing that the National Highway Trust Fund is running out of money with recent years’ similar complaints of funding shortfalls from PennDOT, and you get a lean 2015 summer highway repair program.

PennDOT Region 4 officials recently held a program for county officials to break the news.

Wayne County Commissioners’ Chair Brian Smith attended the April meeting. “Generally, there are less federal funds and more is coming from the state, but overall funding is flat,” he said.

PennDOT officials asked the area commissioners to lobby “to move the feds for a bigger piece of the pie in moving forward,” Smith said.

According to Wayne County’s Comprehensive Plan, “There are 1,400 miles of public road in Wayne County. This includes 672 miles of borough/township roads and 727 miles of state highway.

Of that 727 miles, this year PennDOT plans surface work on a total of just over 86 miles, half of which is “department force,” to be completed in addition to normal maintenance work such as minor bridge repairs, replacement of damaged guiderails and brush trimming work.

Some of the projects

The larger of these projects include 8.38 miles of SR 3031 (Hoadley’s Road) from the Honesdale area in Texas, through Cherry Ridge and Paupack townships to its junction with SR 590; 5.26 miles of SR 670 from Belmont Corner in Mount Pleasant Twp. to Orson in Preston Twp.; 4.79 miles of SR 3002 and SR 3003 in Sterling Twp. between SR 191 and Lackawanna County; 4.41 miles of SR 3024 (Old Tannery Road) from SR 3024 in Cherry Ridge through South Canaan Twp. to the SR 247 junction in Lake Twp.; and 3.16 miles of SR 4021 (Pleasant Mt. Dr.) from Mount Pleasant to the SR 247 junction in Clinton Twp.

One of the eight contracted construction efforts is the “betterment” of U.S. Route 6 in Texas Twp., addition of a third lane between the SR 652 junction and the SR 2009 intersection.

Of seven contracted resurfacing projects, the larger include the length of SR 590 (just over 17 miles) between Wilsonville and Lackawanna County; SR 652 from Darbytown west for 3.3 miles; some 8.11 miles of SR 670 north from Honesdale, through Bethany to SR 4017 in Mount Pleasant; 6.47 miles of SR 191 from Honesdale south into Cherry Ridge; and 7.12 miles of SR 4014 (Maple Grove Rd.) between Scott Center and SR 191 in Buckingham Twp.

The state will also undertake work on nine Wayne bridges, including two carrying SR1018 over Equinunk Creek in Manchester Twp., the SR4033 bridge over Shehawken Creek in Buckingham, the SR2007 bridge over Holbert Creek in Berlin, the SR 4017 bridge over West Dyberry Creek in Dyberry; the Canaan Township Rd. 450 bridge over Keen’s Pond; and the Palmyra Township Road 367 bridge over Middle Creek.