A divided Scranton City Council approved the mayor’s sweeping plan for changes to downtown streetscapes involving replacing some traffic lights with stop signs and reverting some one-way streets to two-way.
Council on Tuesday voted 3-2 — with council President Gerald Smurl, Bill King and Jessica Rothchild in favor, and Mark McAndrew and Tom Schuster opposed — to adopt each of two ordinances from the administration of Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti to implement the plan.
Cognetti and proponents of the $27.3 million plan believe it is a rare opportunity — made possible by funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act and other sources — to change traffic flow and patterns and improve infrastructure, all with the goal of making the downtown safer for pedestrians and more attractive for businesses and the burgeoning number of residents living downtown.
The vote outcome Tuesday mirrored McAndrew and Schuster’s no votes at the prior two weekly council meetings on introduction and advancement of the same two ordinances. While they support infrastructure improvements regarding sidewalk and stormwater upgrades that also come with the plan, McAndrew and Schuster cited concerns about whether stop signs and two-way streets would indeed promote safety. They also questioned the overall financial cost of the project and whether there was enough public awareness and input into it.
The idea for making fundamental traffic changes downtown stems from a December 2018 lecture, organized by then-Councilman Wayne Evans and held at the University of Scranton, and featuring urban design expert Jeff Speck, a city planner, consultant and author of the 2012 book “Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time.” Cognetti, who took office in 2020, followed up by pursuing a “Downtown Scranton Connectivity Plan,” also called a walkability study, completed in 2023.
In April 2024, the mayor, Speck and city engineers held a forum at Lackawanna College as a step toward walking the public through the concepts and ideas for changes. One of the takeaways of that session was that downtown traffic signals, patterns and flow developed over generations have generally prioritized vehicles over pedestrians — such as one-way streets, cars speeding to get to the next green traffic light ahead, vehicles too close to curbs, too many turning lanes and not enough parking spaces.
At Tuesday’s council meeting, Evans, who also served as mayor in 2019, gave an impassioned plea to fully implement the plan. The “car-centric” status quo has only made vehicles drive too fast and downtown less safe for pedestrians, he said. Evans submitted to council letters of support from developers who have invested many millions of dollars downtown. And he noted that of the 35 intersections with traffic lights in the downtown core, six will get four-way stop signs and two others will get two-way stop signs.
“This plan and project just may be the final link to having a downtown Scranton that will once again be the economic hub that drives the entire northeast. It will once again be the undeniable social and cultural center and it will continue to be the historic core of our community, while bringing a vibrant quality of life for our residents, businesses and visitors,” Evans said. “And finally, maybe even more important than all of that, after all these years, it will be safer to cross the street in downtown Scranton.”
Residents who previously spoke against the plan did so again. But other members of the public who spoke Tuesday voiced strong support.
Scranton Tomorrow President/CEO Leslie Collins said her downtown economic development organization has not received any calls from business owners opposing the streetscape legislation. Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Bob Durkin said the city engineer gave the chamber a presentation last week attended by representatives of 50 businesses, and, “We think it’s a great idea.”
Owen Worozbyt, operations director of Lackawanna Heritage Valley, which has the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail running through the city, said of the downtown plan, “It’s a once-in-a-generational opportunity for us to really take and improve a lot of what we see as the shortcomings of the downtown infrastructure.”
Anthracite Bicycle Coalition members Kuba Jennes and Gene McDonough urged council to approve the plan that also would create bike lanes on certain streets.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Don’t walk away from it,” McDonough said.
Resident Tom McLane, a local landscape architect and avid bicyclist who while pedaling has been hit by cars a number of times, said the downtown plan is “long overdue.”
“The streets are treacherous. If you sit on your own front porch in the city and watch traffic, you’ll see people are in a hurry. They’re in a hurry to get nowhere,” McLane said. “So I agree that we have to slow things down. I know a lot of people disagree with it for traditional reasons, but I think it’s the way forward for the city. The city is building on success now and I’d like to see that continue.”
When it came time for council to vote, McAndrew and Schuster restated some of their concerns.
“I’m for this project. I don’t have to like all of it,” McAndrew said. “If (the two ordinances) don’t pass, this project doesn’t die.”
Schuster said, “Everybody I spoke to, my constituents, do not like the removal of these stoplights — it is around Courthouse Square.”
The plan comes with a trial period to see how changes are working, and ARPA funds also have to be committed and then expended by October 2026. Smurl said the PennDOT-approved plan was voluminous and years in the making, and delay or changes now would jeopardize all of it. That’s because the entire plan would have to go back to PennDOT, “and then this simply will not happen because PennDOT does not do anything fast,” Smurl said.
Rothchild said, “I do believe there is a pedestrian safety issue within Scranton. … I also don’t believe that the status quo is working.”
King added, “I will be voting for progress.”
Council also voted 5-0 to adopt a third ordinance underlying the downtown streetscape plan that would create 69 additional street-parking spaces.
An example of curb bump-outs proposed by Scranton for some downtown street intersections, presented Tuesday Oct. 14, 2025 by the administration of Mayor Paige G. Cognetti to Scranton City Council. (SCREEN GRAB COPY / ELECTRIC CITY TELEVISION VIA YOUTUBE)
An example of curb bump-outs proposed by Scranton for some downtown street intersections, presented Tuesday Oct. 14, 2025 by the administration of Mayor Paige G. Cognetti to Scranton City Council. (SCREEN GRAB COPY / ELECTRIC CITY TELEVISION VIA YOUTUBE)
A street grid showing where four-way stop signs would replace traffic lights, as proposed by Scranton for some downtown street intersections, presented Tuesday Oct. 14, 2025 by the administration of Mayor Paige G. Cognetti to Scranton City Council. City Engineer Tom Reilly is shown in inset photo. (SCREEN GRAB COPY / ELECTRIC CITY TELEVISION VIA YOUTUBE)
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An example of curb bump-outs proposed by Scranton for some downtown street intersections, presented Tuesday Oct. 14, 2025 by the administration of Mayor Paige G. Cognetti to Scranton City Council. (SCREEN GRAB COPY / ELECTRIC CITY TELEVISION VIA YOUTUBE)
Street signs instructing vehicles about turning onto Penn Ave. are posted on Biden St. in downtown Scranton Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
An aerial view of Biden St. and Adams Ave. in downtown Scranton Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
An aerial view of the Lackawanna County Courthouse and the surrounding streets in downtown Scranton Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Vehicles travel through stop lights on Biden St. in downtown Scranton Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
An aerial view of the Lackawanna County Courthouse and the surrounding streets in downtown Scranton Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Street signs instructing vehicles about turning onto Penn Ave. are posted on Biden St. in downtown Scranton Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)