SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) \u2014 Scranton officials are moving forward with another major flood mitigation project in Keyser Valley, an area repeatedly devastated by severe flooding in recent years.<\/p>\n
The City of Scranton plans to introduce a proposed $6.38 million stormwater improvement contract before City Council next week as part of ongoing efforts to reduce flooding risks in the Keyser Creek watershed.<\/p>\n
The proposed contract with RLE Enterprises would fund construction of a new Keyser Creek outfall and additional stormwater upgrades stretching through several properties toward a dry dam near Briggs Street and Horatio Avenue.<\/p>\n
Mayor Paige Cognetti called the project one of the city\u2019s most important infrastructure priorities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will never forget the severe flooding that residents experienced in September 2023 and the damage and uncertainty that followed,\u201d Cognetti said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The Keyser Valley neighborhood has endured repeated flooding for years, but the September 2023 flash flooding event was especially catastrophic. Torrential storms overwhelmed creeks and stormwater systems across Scranton\u2019s west side and Keyser Valley, trapping residents, damaging homes, and forcing emergency rescues. Residents on Merrifield Avenue and nearby neighborhoods reported water rapidly rising into homes and streets as Keyser Creek and surrounding waterways overflowed.<\/p>\n
City officials say the flooding caused widespread destruction and prompted the city to accelerate long-term flood mitigation projects throughout Scranton. Since the 2023 disaster, the city has committed nearly $23 million in American Rescue Plan funding toward stormwater and infrastructure improvements citywide.<\/p>\n
The latest Keyser Valley proposal follows additional stormwater projects already underway near Fawnwood Heights, Whitetail Drive, Ridgeview Drive, and the Merrifield Avenue pump station.<\/p>\n
Officials said recent heavy rains again highlighted the urgency of the work, with some residents recently approving easements needed for portions of the flood control project after seeing renewed flooding concerns.<\/p>\n
Projects connected to the broader flood mitigation initiative are also underway in North Scranton, Minooka, East Mountain, and Tripp Park.<\/p>\n
Scranton City Council is expected to consider the contract proposal during its May 26 meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) \u2014 Scranton officials are moving forward with another major flood mitigation project in Keyser…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":["post-201794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}