Construction crews are fixing Interstate 80 in the Stroudsburg. No problem there. It's an old stretch of road. It's used heavily. It needs work.
When 80 goes down to one lane, drivers use Route 611 as an alternate, and that's where the problems lie. Commercial activity on 611 has exploded in recent years. Traffic craws on a normal day. Add all that 80 traffic, and it turns in to a nightmare.
The problem is compounded by poorly timed and malfunctioning traffic lights, and a road that simply cannot meet the traffic demand.
The Pocono Record contacted State Police, local police and PennDOT to see who is interested in helping solve the problem. All I read was a bunch of finger pointing and "hey, it's someone else's issue." Police say they don't have the manpower to station an officer at every intersection. Understandable. PennDOT gives us the standard "we're monitoring the situation." Translation: We don't have a clue as to what to do about it. Get used to sitting in traffic.
Monroe County is not alone. There's currently an Interstate 81 patching project between Avoca and Scranton. The interstate is frequently down to one lane. There's a new round of patching because several shoddy previous attempts. Drivers are using thoroughfares like Route 11, Davis Street, Pittston Avenue, Birney Avenue and Main Avenue as alternates. Do you think anyone is there keeping an eye on traffic? Not a chance.
I'm not sure government would allow it, but I wonder if some entrepreneur could start a company that goes in to trouble spots with trained traffic control personnel, Construction crews hire "flag people." We could also hire people to direct traffic when the need arises.
I know it won't be cheap, but it's still less expensive than having thousands of cars and trucks wasting gas by sitting in traffic.
