SCRANTON — Plans remain afoot to build the first pedestrian bridge of the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail in Scranton over the waterway near Steamtown National Historic Site.
The span would link the Seventh Avenue trailhead to a proposed park across the river that Lackawanna County plans to create on a 7-acre, boomerang-shaped tract between the river and the Steamtown site and Electric City Trolley Museum.
The Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority that manages the trail will hold a public informational meeting about the pedestrian bridge project on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the LHVA headquarters building at 213 Railroad Ave., according to a public notice published recently in The Times-Tribune.
The bridge project has been in the works for years and the public meeting on the design status is a required procedural step, said LHVA Director of Operations Owen Worozbyt. The design phase started last year, and it could take another 15 months or so until construction of the pedestrian bridge starts.
“We’re going to hopefully get the construction started by the end of next year (2027),” Worozbyt said.
A pedestrian bridge would go in the spot of a former vehicle bridge that spurred off Seventh Avenue and carried Bridge Street over the river, but that collapsed decades ago.
The vehicle bridge had been known over many decades by three different names — Scranton Street Bridge, Cliff Street Bridge and Bridge Street Bridge, according to archives of The Times-Tribune. In 1976, the old bridge partially collapsed under the weight of a dump truck hauling asphalt, suspending the truck over a large hole in the span. The vehicle bridge was removed in the early 1990s. A pedestrian bridge, which would span about 130 feet, would end up owned and maintained by the LHVA.
The estimated $1.5 million pedestrian bridge project involves three sources of state funds, including $1 million from the Department of Transportation for construction, $300,000 from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for design and $250,000 from the Department of Community and Economic Development for construction and design. In partnering with the LVHA on the bridge project, the city is administering grant funds.
Remediation of former gas manufacturing plant
Meanwhile, the 7-acre land for a future park is a UGI Utilities Inc. former gas manufacturing site off Bridge Street and Cliff Street, which also has been labeled as Cliff Avenue in spots. Known as the Bridge Street Former Manufactured Gas Plant Site, it became home in the mid-19th century to a plant that converted coal and oil into “town gas” used to illuminate city streets, cook meals and heat homes, until around 1954.
UGI’s website says UGI’s predecessors operated the gas plant from before 1870 until about 1957. In the 1950s and 1960s, the plant was converted to a natural gas distribution center. From 1973 to 2010, many of the above-ground structures were demolished. After 2010, underground cleanup activities were performed. Contaminants found in soil and groundwater at the site include coal tar and oils, benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and certain metals. Current remediation work began in May and is expected to last eight months.
The site remediation and pedestrian bridge are separate projects, but once completed would complement each other, as trail users would be able to access the park via the bridge over the river. Concepts for a park on the 7 acres have included a boat launch, event lawn, stage and band shell, playground and multiuse path.
The area of the Lackawanna River in Scranton where a pedestrian bridge would get built linking the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail along Seventh Avenue and a proposed park on a former gas plant site. A UGI remediation of the former Bridge Street gas plant remains under environmental remediation. A park would go on the boomerang shapted piece of land off Cliff Street, near the Steamtown National Historic Site. Photo taken Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
A UGI site of the former Bridge Street gas plant along the Lackawanna River in Scranton remains under environmental remediation on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. A park would go on the boomerang shapted piece of land off Cliff Street, near the Steamtown National Historic Site. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
A UGI site of the former Bridge Street gas plant along the Lackawanna River in Scranton remains under environmental remediation on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. A park would go on the boomerang shapted piece of land off Cliff Street, near the Steamtown National Historic Site. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
A UGI site of the former Bridge Street gas plant along the Lackawanna River in Scranton remains under environmental remediation on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. A park would go on the boomerang shapted piece of land off Cliff Street, near the Steamtown National Historic Site. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
A UGI site of the former Bridge Street gas plant along the Lackawanna River in Scranton remains under environmental remediation on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. A park would go on the boomerang shapted piece of land off Cliff Street, near the Steamtown National Historic Site. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
A UGI site of the former Bridge Street gas plant along the Lackawanna River in Scranton remains under environmental remediation on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. A park would go on the boomerang shapted piece of land off Cliff Street, near the Steamtown National Historic Site. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
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The area of the Lackawanna River in Scranton where a pedestrian bridge would get built linking the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail along Seventh Avenue and a proposed park on a former gas plant site. A UGI remediation of the former Bridge Street gas plant remains under environmental remediation. A park would go on the boomerang shapted piece of land off Cliff Street, near the Steamtown National Historic Site. Photo taken Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)