The Junction section of Pittston is a part of the streetscaping project to include new lights, curbs, and sidewalks.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
The Pittston Lumber, now City of Pittston owned, is slated to be demolished making way for the final phase of streetscaping to include lights, sidewalk and curbing.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
PITTSTON – The unusual warm temperatures this past week has city Mayor Michael Lombardo eager to get spring projects underway, especially the next several phases of Main Street’s streetscaping project.
Streetscaping was a big undertaking for Mayor Lombardo, but he knew in order to attract new businesses to the downtown area, the street needed new curbs, sidewalks and lighting.
It was going to be costly, but overtime he and his team at City Hall were able to secure grant money to help pay for many of the projects he had designated.
Streetscaping has been done from at the south end of Main Street from the Sunoco to the Spc. Dale Kridlo Memorial Bridge.
The next few phases will carry streetscaping from the bridge to the Duryea line that would include three houses on the Duryea side.
According to Mayor Lombardo, PennDOT gave the City of Pittston permission to put the next phase out for bid.
“At the end of the year, last year, we were ready to go on the streetscape project, but PennDOT has a rule about how many projects they let out, so we had to wait for clearance, you can’t just bid it without PennDOT’s permission,” Lombardo said. “We have some serious grant money from PennDOT in it. When winter hit, it was a mute point.”
Lombardo said the City of Pittston is cleared to receive bids for Phase I on Jan. 26 and bids for Phase II will be shortly thereafter.
According to the Mayor, bids will be accepted over a 30-day period with awards for the job taking place at the March city council meeting. Work is expected to commence April or May with a six-month completion date.
“We will start at the north most point at Curry St. and work our way back to around Esther St.,” Lombardo added. “We are going to add a few houses on the Duryea side of the project.”
The 7/10 of a mile phase will go fairly quickly, according to the Mayor. There are not a lot of details involved.
Phase I and Phase II has $5 million dollars in grant money going into the projects.
“I’m excited about getting the Main St. streetscaping project up and running again,” Lombardo said. “There have been so many delays and I feel like I’ve been talking about the north end of the project for my whole third term.”
Lombardo stressed the pandemic put the entire project behind.
“It will get do and it will get done right and quite honestly there might have been some benefit with the lag,” Lombardo stated. “We now have the Fort Pittston School housing project back on track since having the building placed on the National Registry and of course the Pittston Lumber project is moving along as well, so with those two projects in place, the next phase from Curry St. will run a lot smoother.”
The Fort Pittston School will be transformed into housing with approximately 12 apartments in place. A firm out of Harrisburg that specializes in converting old schools into viable living space will be in charge of the project.
Mayor Lombardo’s main agenda has been focusing on housing in the city. He said with the 12 new units at Fort Pittston, 13 more units at the former Cee Kay Auto location, and the 27 units at the Waterfront Complex next to The Banks Banquet facility bringing the total to 52 new units.
“When the Burns building across from the Pittston City Fire Hall gets completed, there will be 10 additional units attached to that project,” Lombardo added. “So in the next 18-months we will have nearly 65 new units in the City.”
Mayor Lombardo said the walking trail project along the river received an additional $1 million grant and that will tie in around the Pittston Lumber area that will eventually connect with the new streetscaping in that area.
Phase II from Esther St. to Panama St. would be the next section to start.
