Progress

“It is an important time for our town to continue to improve it so people can come into our city and enjoy it …”

March 25, 2010

Downtown upgrading on way

Project to replace sidewalks and add other improvements in Public Square area starts April 5.

By Sherry Long slong@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

Driving around Wilkes-Barre’s downtown is going to be more difficult in coming months, but Mayor Tom Leighton believes the payoff will be worth it.

Construction on the fourth phase of a $7.7 million downtown sidewalk and landscape improvement project will begin April 5 and continue through the fall.

This latest phase, costing $1.3 million, will remove uneven paved pedestrian walkways and replacement them with concrete sidewalks, park benches and bike racks from Caf� Toscana at the corner of Market Street and Public Square, around Public Square to Main Street. Improvements will continue south on Main to Northampton Street.

It will be paid with a combination of funds from the Federal Highway Administration and the state Department of Transportation.

City officials have said the project is important to revitalize downtown by replacing aging infrastructure that has not been updated since after the Agnes Flood of 1972.

“It is an important time for our town to continue to improve it so people can come into our city and enjoy it, whether they be residents, visitors or employees,” Leighton said.

New sidewalks will be rebuilt in phases, and businesses along Main Street and Public Square will have temporary sidewalks as the permanent ones are being installed, said project engineer Tom Lawson of Borton and Lawson, Wilkes-Barre.

City officials also will accommodate business owners who requested more parking spaces. Several short-term parking meters will be installed to offer parking for shoppers. Thirty new pear trees also will be planted, replacing the 11 existing trees.

Once this segment of the project is completed, it will look similar to the sidewalks on Northampton Street near the movie theater complex.

Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry President Todd Vonderheid said the downtown streets are in need of an upgrade.

“An attractive streetscape that has more convenient parking, new trees and a greening of the space will change everyone’s perspective of South Main Street pretty quickly. It will become a much more inviting space for pedestrians,” Vonderheid said.

This is not the last section of planned improvements for the downtown.

The city is also trying to secure about $500,000 in federal money to repair the broken and chipped sidewalks by the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts and Luzerne Bank, Leighton said.

“We definitely know what needs to be done. We have to wait for funding,” he said.

Sherry Long, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7159.

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