In continuing stormwater management upgrades in the Keyser Valley area deluged by a flash flood in 2023, Scranton seeks bids on a Lindy Creek improvement project.
The city has invested nearly $23 million of its $68.7 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, as well as other city and grant funds, in stormwater management projects throughout the city.
In one of the latest projects, Scranton seeks bids until March 5 at 10 a.m. on Lindy Creek stormwater management improvements.
“The important work to repair and improve our stormwater management systems continues,” Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti said in a statement. “The ongoing improvement of waterways like Lindy Creek in the Keyser Valley are part of our overall commitment to protect our neighborhoods from the impact of extreme weather.”
An invitation to bid issued Tuesday involves:
• Installation of approximately 430 linear feet of steel-reinforced concrete retaining wall along Lindy Creek and Frink Street.
• Installation of riprap, storm inlets and associated piping.
• Maintenance of stream flow within the existing channel.
• Bypass pumping.
• Removal of an unnamed small bridge that acts as an access road to a property on Frink Street, and installation of a temporary pedestrian bridge.
• Installation of a precast concrete box culvert and wingwalls.
• Erosion and sediment control measures.
Flowing down West Mountain from Ransom Twp., Lindy Creek is channeled in residential sections of Keyser Valley and flows into Keyser Creek near Washburn Street. Keyser Creek also originates atop West Mountain, above the Scranton Materials quarry, and flows downhill into Keyser Valley.
Flash flooding on Sept. 9, 2023, in parts of Lackawanna County dumped about 6 inches of rain in about 90 minutes. The storm inundated roads, vehicles and homes and drowned a woman swept away in the deluge in South Abington Twp. The storm that swamped the Abingtons and areas of Scranton quickly overwhelmed motorists and homeowners caught in the paths of raging or rising waters and strained emergency personnel responding to over 500 incidents in several municipalities.
At that time, Lindy Creek was among several waterways that spilled over and caused significant flooding damage to dozens of Keyser Valley homes.
Last year, the city completed a debris removal project that focused on the basins along Frink Street, the Lindy Creek U-channel near South Dewey Avenue, and the confluence of Lindy and Keyser creeks.
Previously, in November 2006, severe flooding of Lindy Creek wiped out a Crisp Avenue bridge over the creek.
CHRISTOPHER DOLAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Scranton firefighters from Rescue 1 arrive in a boat at Jackson Street and South Merrifield Avenue in West Scranton with a woman rescued from a flooded home on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023.
Scranton’s Lindy Creek Flood Control Project, at left, along Frink Street, at right, near the intersection of South Keyser Avenue. (GOOGLE STREET VIEW / IMAGE COPIED)
Jeff Jones walks across Lindy Creek on a plank at his parents’ home, 2711 Frink St., Scranton, in November of 2006. A bridge leading to the home was washed away by Lindy Creek flooding. (TIMES-TRIBUNE / FILE PHOTO)
A bridge on Crisp Avenue in Scranton was washed out from Lindy Creek flooding in November of 2006. (TIMES-TRIBUNE / FILE PHOTO)
Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty walks the line of the new Crisp Avenue Bridge over Lindy Creek in West Mountain after a brief ribbon cutting ceremony in November of 2011. (TIMES-TRIBUNE / FILE PHOTO)
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Scranton’s Lindy Creek Flood Control Project, at left, along Frink Street, at right, near the intersection of South Keyser Avenue. (GOOGLE STREET VIEW / IMAGE COPIED)