SCRANTON — Scranton City Council grudgingly took the first step Tuesday to approve a new one-way designation for 100 feet of Euclid Avenue from North Main Avenue in West Side.
The city’s recent West Side Gateway streetscape project along North Main Avenue at Euclid Avenue and Farr and West Gibson streets changed 100 feet of Euclid Avenue from two-way traffic to one-way, between North Main Avenue and Dorothy Street.
The project narrowed Euclid’s intersection with North Main Avenue such that two-way traffic is no longer possible, council members have said. Mayor Paige Cognetti said the short stretch of one-way on Euclid Avenue is dictated by state Department of Transportation regulations on sight distances; under the prior two-way designation, an adequate sight distance looking left did not exist for traffic turning from Euclid Avenue onto North Main Avenue. The new one-way designation, which eliminates the sight-distance inadequacy, also greatly improves safety there, she said.
The dispute developed in recent months as the streetscape project ensued.
Then
The streetscape project got underway several months ago and the Euclid Avenue intersection in the construction zone went from two-way to one-way.
On Sept. 1, council unanimously voted down introduction of an ordinance from the mayor to authorize the one-way designation that already had been in place for some time.
The project constructed a sidewalk bump-out that narrowed the width of Euclid Avenue, such that returning it to a two-way street is no longer possible — at least not without tearing out the new bumped-out sidewalk, council members said.
So, council on Sept. 1 rejected the permanent one-way change — with council President Tom Schuster, Patrick Flynn, Mark McAndrew, Sean McAndrew and Jessica Rothchild all voting no. They instead asked the administration for a new traffic study to verify the change is necessary, and for a cost estimate on removing the sidewalks that had just been constructed and putting the Euclid/North Main avenues intersection back the way it was.
Schuster on Sept. 1 said he kept the one-way legislation off the council’s weekly meeting agenda for several months to get more information from the administration about it. Legislation passed by council in 2023 about a grant application for the gateway project did not mention making part of Euclid Avenue a one-way street, he said.
The mayor had said the one-way change was necessary to improve safety at the busy intersection, where the two roads meet at an irregular angle at the bottom of a hill. Traffic often backs up there under two bridges that carry a rail line and the McDade Expressway over North Main Avenue. Under the one-way designation, traffic still enters Euclid Avenue from North Main Avenue, but eastbound traffic on Dorothy Street can no longer continue onto Euclid Avenue to get to North Main Avenue.
Council then sent the mayor a letter claiming not informing council of the change to one-way before it occurred violated the city code.
Now
On Tuesday, council unanimously voted to introduce the one-way ordinance and said they have no other choice, according to an Electric City Television simulcast and video of the council meeting posted on YouTube.
They were not happy about it and restated criticisms of the mayor and how the one-way change unfolded and was implemented without prior council approval.
“I don’t agree with how this was done and the process to make Euclid Avenue a one-way, but I do understand the safety concerns,” Rothchild said. She suggested asking for more signage to make motorists more aware.
Sean McAndrew called the situation a “total overstep” of the administration’s authority.
“I’m not happy with how it’s done. They didn’t come to us for approval, they didn’t give us justification before they made the change, but we’re kind of stuck with it,” Sean McAndrew said. “PennDOT is saying we’ve got to keep it, the city won’t give us an estimated cost to bump it back.”
Though also unhappy with the situation, Mark McAndrew said he is proud of the council for taking a position that raised awareness of it. “I’m going to vote yes with reservation,” Mark McAndrew said.
Schuster said, “Once this road was touched, once this project began, it needed PennDOT approval and no matter how we look at it from any direction there’s no line-of-sight that meets PennDOT guidelines. At this point in time, there ‘s no way around the change that has been made. It does have to go to a one-way. There could have been several different ways that we pursued this. Those ways didn’t occur. And I still stand by council’s letter that we had sent regarding code violations with the city in not informing council when this road was going to change to a one-way street.”
The administration also has sent legislation to council to make Dorothy Street one-way heading northwest, from Euclid Avenue to the dead-end near the Isaac Tripp Elementary School; and to make the parallel Farr Street one-way in a southeast direction. That would make Dorothy Street one-way for traffic entering the neighborhood and Farr Street one-way coming out.
On Wednesday, Cognetti said of council’s introduction of the Euclid one-way ordinance, “We are pleased this important traffic safety legislation is moving forward and we’d like to see the Dorothy/Farr piece put forward as well.”
To get adopted by council, the proposed ordinance needs passage of both a second vote on advancement and a third vote on adoption.
A West Scranton gateway streetscape project along North Main Avenue in the area of Euclid Avenue and Farr and West Gibson streets narrowed the Euclid Avenue intersection with North Main Avenue with a sidewalk and curb bumpout, shown at left on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. The project resulted in this formerly wider, two-way and 100-foot-long stretch of Euclid Avenue becoming a one-way street, between North Main Avenue and Dorothy Street. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
A West Scranton gateway streetscape project along North Main Avenue in the area of Euclid Avenue and Farr and West Gibson streets narrowed the Euclid Avenue intersection with North Main Avenue with a sidewalk and curb bumpout, shown at left on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. The project resulted in this formerly wider, two-way and 100-foot-long stretch of Euclid Avenue becoming a one-way street, between North Main Avenue and Dorothy Street. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
A West Scranton gateway streetscape project along North Main Avenue in the area of Euclid Avenue and Farr and West Gibson streets narrowed the Euclid Avenue intersection with North Main Avenue with a sidewalk and curb bumpout, shown in background on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. The project resulted in this formerly wider, two-way and 100-foot-long stretch of Euclid Avenue becoming a one-way street, between North Main Avenue and Dorothy Street. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
A West Scranton gateway streetscape project along North Main Avenue in the area of Euclid Avenue and Farr and West Gibson streets resulted in Euclid Avenue becoming a one-way street for about 100 feet, between North Main Avenue and Dorothy Street. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
A West Scranton gateway streetscape project along North Main Avenue in the area of Euclid Avenue and Farr and West Gibson streets narrowed the Euclid Avenue intersection with North Main Avenue with a sidewalk and curb bumpout, shown here on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026 in the background at left. The project resulted in this formerly wider, two-way and 100-foot-long stretch of Euclid Avenue becoming a one-way street, between North Main Avenue and Dorothy Street. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
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A West Scranton gateway streetscape project along North Main Avenue in the area of Euclid Avenue and Farr and West Gibson streets narrowed the Euclid Avenue intersection with North Main Avenue with a sidewalk and curb bumpout, shown at left on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. The project resulted in this formerly wider, two-way and 100-foot-long stretch of Euclid Avenue becoming a one-way street, between North Main Avenue and Dorothy Street. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)