Widening of Milford Road moves into third phase

By Jerry Goldberg
BUSHKILL — The widening of Milford Road, an ongoing project for more than 10 years, is moving into its third phase.

Contracts for the $25 million expansion may be let out for bid as early as June, and will take three construction seasons to complete.

The project will extend north from Little Egypt Road into Delaware Township, a few hundred feet beyond Log and Twig Road at a Pocono Mountain Lake Estates private community entrance.

The project will undertake four and one half miles on Little Egypt Road, which runs between state Route 2001 and Egypt Mills Road, a short section parallel to state Route 209. The two 10-foot-wide traffic lanes on this section of Little Egypt Road will be expanded to two 11-foot-wide traffic lanes. Each lane will have an eight-foot-wide shoulder.

Project manger Carla Medura, a civil engineer with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, told the Courier that permit applications have been submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and National Parks Service. The permits must be in place before PennDOT can advertise for contractor bids.

“This just takes time because everything has to be looked at closely,” Medura said.

Once the final approvals are in place, the project will proceed with care given to minimize disturbance to natural lands and Exceptional Value streams. No contractor is permitted to disturb the entire project all at once. Where Exceptional Value streams will be affected, PennDOT will take care to disturb only small areas at a time.

Over the last year and a half, the state has purchased the remaining residential homes within the project boundaries. The residents have moved other residences nearby or out of the area. Of the approximately 20 homes slated for removal, only one or two homes are left to be demolished by PennDOT.

The project's slow pace is due to its complexity, involving several governmental agencies and hoards of site plans, ordinances, and regulations to protect the area's precious natural resources.