SCRANTON \u2014 Starting Monday, motorists downtown will encounter new rules of the road where stop signs will take effect at 13 intersections that have traffic lights.<\/p>\n
The traffic signals will still exist, but will be set to flashing red lights.<\/p>\n
The changes kick off a test period of potentially permanently replacing traffic signals with stop signs at the 13 intersections, which include:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Biden Street at Franklin, Penn and Wyoming avenues.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Linden Street at Franklin, Penn, Wyoming, North Washington and Adams avenues.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Vine Street at Penn, North Washington, Adams and Jefferson avenues.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Olive Street at Jefferson Avenue.<\/p>\n
During the past week, workers have placed bagged stop signs at the intersections, in preparation for having them go live on Monday. Some have two signs together at any given spot, but that was done for staging purposes and the stop signs will go into their final locations at the intersections Sunday, city Communications Director Christopher Hughes said. The staged signs also might appear taller than normal, but they will be cut to typical sizes.<\/p>\n
Some of the staged stop signs are topped with solar panels. Ultimately, the new stop signs all will be solar-powered, high-visibility stop signs that are rimmed with flashing LED lights, similar to such stop signs installed last year near Connell Park and Weston Field. During the downtown testing phase, some of the stop signs will be the regular, non-LED kind.<\/p>\n
![\"Bagged](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792319664_565_STT-L-STOP-1018.jpeg\")
Bagged stop signs downtown, such as these at Linden Street and Penn Avenue, seen here on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026 in foreground and across the street in background, will be uncovered and set up at corners under a plan to start testing on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026 whether traffic light signals could be replaced with stop signs to improve traffic flow and pedestrian safety. (JIM LOCKWOOD \/ STAFF PHOTO)
\nEvaluating results<\/p>\n
At Scranton City Council\u2019s weekly meeting Tuesday, council members and some residents wondered how the city would determine whether stop signs at the 13 intersections improve traffic flow and safety, and what \u201cmetrics\u201d the administration would use to determine that.<\/p>\n
Hughes said the Scranton Police Department will have multiple units deployed to monitor traffic throughout the downtown footprint. The city will use its traffic cameras as well as engineering staff from Reilly Associates, which is the city engineer, to evaluate the vehicular and pedestrian traffic at the changed intersections. Reilly traffic technicians, under the supervision of traffic engineers, will monitor the intersections for metrics, such as the number of vehicles in the queue, compliance with stop signs, pedestrian activity, driver confusion and congestion. The data collected by the technicians, cameras and the Police Department will be evaluated by Reilly Associates during the trial phase.<\/p>\n
Police will enforce traffic laws during the test phase, Hughes said.<\/p>\n
This has worked elsewhere<\/p>\n
Cities elsewhere in the nation that have populations two-to-four-times larger than Scranton have successfully completed such traffic-control changes and continue to pursue driver and pedestrian safety projects of converting one-way traffic to two-way traffic and replacing unnecessary traffic signals with stop signs, Hughes said.<\/p>\n
Last year, a Downtown Street Optimization Project in Mobile, Alabama, a city with nearly 200,000 residents, replaced 26 timed signals with all-way stop signs after a 90-day study.<\/p>\n
A project similar to Scranton\u2019s also is currently underway at 22 intersections in Durham, North Carolina, which has nearly 306,000 residents. Durham city planners believe the changes there will slow down traffic and prevent more crashes.<\/p>\n
Scranton\u2019s initial study looked at 35 intersections and determined that only 13 could be considered for traffic signal removal. PennDOT approved the plans in the single largest traffic study ever submitted PennDOT District 4, which encompasses Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wyoming, Susquehanna, Wayne and Pike counties.<\/p>\n
Authorized a year ago by Mayor Paige Cognetti and the former Scranton City Council, the potential permanent conversion of some traffic lights to stop signs is part of one of the largest streetscape overhauls in the city that remains underway. In October 2025, a split council adopted three ordinances from Cognetti\u2019s administration underlying various downtown streetscape changes under the connectivity\/walkability plan. The ordinances called for replacing some traffic lights with stop signs and reverting some one-way streets to two-way; narrowing some vehicle travel lanes and adding curb bump-outs at intersections to improve pedestrian safety; and in certain spots adding bike lanes and parking spaces.<\/p>\n
Most of the downtown streetscape projects, which total $20.4 million, have since been completed. Many involved constructing new sidewalks and curbs and filling in old vaults under sidewalks. Some of the remaining ones will get done before winter and the rest will be completed in the spring.<\/p>\n
Steps toward greater \u2018walkability\u2019<\/p>\n
The idea for making fundamental traffic changes downtown generally stemmed 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 \u201cWalkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cognetti, who took office in 2020, followed up by pursuing a \u201cDowntown Scranton Connectivity Plan\u201d that was completed in June 2023 by Speck and transportation planning firm NelsonNygaard. 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 \u2013 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. Cognetti described the initiative \u201ca generational transformation\u201d for improved safety and traffic flow.<\/p>\n
![\"Bagged](\"https:\/\/www.thetimes-tribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/STT-L-STOP-1018_2.jpeg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n
Bagged stop signs downtown, such as these at Linden Street and Penn Avenue seen here on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, will be uncovered and set up at corners under a plan to start testing on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026 whether traffic light signals could be replaced with stop signs to improve traffic flow and pedestrian safety. (JIM LOCKWOOD \/ STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n
![\"Bagged](\"https:\/\/www.thetimes-tribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/STT-L-STOP-1018_3-rotated-1.jpeg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n
Bagged stop signs downtown, such as these at Linden Street and Penn Avenue seen here on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, will be uncovered and set up at corners under a plan to start testing on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026 whether traffic light signals could be replaced with stop signs to improve traffic flow and pedestrian safety. (JIM LOCKWOOD \/ STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n
![\"Bagged](\"https:\/\/www.thetimes-tribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/STT-L-STOP-1018-1.jpeg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n
Bagged stop signs downtown, such as these at Linden Street and Penn Avenue, seen here on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026 in foreground and across the street in background, will be uncovered and set up at corners under a plan to start testing on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026 whether traffic light signals could be replaced with stop signs to improve traffic flow and pedestrian safety. (JIM LOCKWOOD \/ STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n
Show Caption<\/p>\n
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Bagged stop signs downtown, such as these at Linden Street and Penn Avenue seen here on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, will be uncovered and set up at corners under a plan to start testing on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026 whether traffic light signals could be replaced with stop signs to improve traffic flow and pedestrian safety. (JIM LOCKWOOD \/ STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n