PennDOT plans to widen highway to six lanes from Exit 303 to Exit 307; wetland replacement site is in Wayne County

STROUDSBURG — PennDOT expects to open construction bids February 12, 2026, for the first phase of its $935 million Interstate 80 reconstruction through Stroud Township, Stroudsburg Borough, and East Stroudsburg Borough.

The environmental permits haven’t been approved.

The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit—required for stormwater runoff—is under technical review by the Monroe County Conservation District. The Chapter 105 wetland and waterway permit sits in DEP’s electronic permitting system awaiting a decision.

A DEP hearing at the Monroe County Public Safety Center in September drew testimony from Brodhead Watershed Association members, PennFuture representatives, and borough officials urging regulators to scrutinize the project’s impact on Pocono Creek, McMichael Creek, and the Brodhead’s exceptional-value waters.

Here’s what local coverage has missed: when PennDOT destroys wetlands along this corridor, the replacement won’t be in Monroe County. It’ll be at Sunny Brook—a mitigation bank in Wayne County, roughly 50 miles from Stroudsburg.

PennDOT’s May 2025 briefing states the decision resulted from “lack of available sites within or adjoining the corridor due to the developed project area.”

Dreher Avenue Exit Closing Permanently

The reconstruction eliminates Exit 306 at Dreher Avenue. PennDOT says spacing requirements between interchanges make it necessary.

The replacement: a new Dreher Avenue Connector linking the neighborhood to West Main Street and Exit 304.

Stroudsburg Emergency Management Coordinator Mehmet Barzev told a packed town hall at Stroudsburg High School that losing Dreher Avenue access could add five to twelve minutes to response times.

“We rely on short bursts down the interstate to get through town or to get our mutual aid partners to help us respond to calls,” Barzev said. “If there’s an accident within Dreher or if there’s something that requires us to be on 80-eastbound, we’re now going to have to go several miles past where we would normally access the highway.”

Stroudsburg Borough Manager Larry Kopp raised tax concerns. The project requires 23 total property acquisitions and partial takes from over 200 parcels for sidewalks, noise walls, and grading along PA 611, Business Route 209, and local roads.

“We are landlocked, there’s limited growth, and the bottom line is, probably higher taxes,” Kopp said. The borough already loses significant revenue because government buildings dominate its tax rolls.

Eagle Nest Near Park Avenue; Vernal Pool Identified

Near the Park Avenue interchange, local researcher Danny Younger discovered an active bald eagle nest—a family of four that neighbors say has occupied the site for more than a decade.

The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act requires a 660-foot buffer around active nests. State Rep. Tarah Probst (D-189), who represents Stroudsburg and surrounding communities, says PennDOT’s current design violates that buffer.

“Not only are there a mom, dad, and the kids,” Probst said in October, “but they’re also thriving and talking to people in the area. They have been there, those eagles. People know who they are.”

An independent environmental study commissioned by Stroudsburg Borough in March 2025 identified a spring-fed wetland near the same area as a vernal pool—seasonal habitat that may support bog turtles, listed as endangered in Pennsylvania. PennDOT’s documents classify it as a drainage area.

Probst, who fought the project during her tenure as Stroudsburg mayor, says both the 660-foot eagle buffer and the 75-foot wetland buffer would be violated if construction proceeds as designed.

Artifacts Dating Back 7,000 Years

PennDOT’s archaeological surveys have uncovered pre-contact Native American artifacts along the corridor—lithic debitage dating between 5,000 and 7,000 years before present.

The items are being cleaned, catalogued, and sent to the Pennsylvania State Museum in Harrisburg. PennDOT’s briefing notes no burial sites or cultural features were encountered, but the finds confirm human occupation of the Brodhead Valley stretching back millennia.

The 1955 Flood Still Haunts This Valley

Opposition to the project often invokes the deadliest disaster in Monroe County history.

In August 1955, Hurricanes Connie and Diane dropped nearly 20 inches of rain on the Poconos in less than a week. Dams failed along the Brodhead Creek and its tributaries. A 50-foot railroad embankment at Devil’s Hole Creek in Pocono Township gave way after the initial flooding appeared to subside.

The resulting torrent roared through Analomink and into the Stroudsburgs after dark. Seventy-four Monroe County residents died—more than 40 of them at Davis Cabins, a small religious retreat north of town along the Brodhead.

The disaster led to the dike system that now protects downtown. Survivors still gather for annual commemorations.

Probst argues the I-80 widening increases flood risk by removing mature trees—which can absorb 20 to 100 gallons of water during storms—and adding impervious pavement in a watershed that drains directly into the Brodhead.

“We had a flood here in 1955,” Probst said, “and we’re going to flood again if this project goes through.”

By the Numbers

Total project cost: $935 million

Phase 1 (Exit 303, Stroud Township): $217 million — bids open February 12, 2026

Phase 2 (Exits 304-305, Stroudsburg): $437 million

Phase 3 (Exits 306-307, East Stroudsburg): $281 million

Construction time per phase: 4 years

Property acquisitions: 23 total takes, 200+ partial acquisitions for sidewalks, noise walls, grading

Retaining walls: More than 30,000 linear feet (nearly six miles)

Current daily traffic: 47,300–70,500 vehicles

Projected 2045 daily traffic: 89,200–132,800 vehicles

PennDOT estimates the project will create 1,200 jobs—mainly in retail, restaurants, and lodging—and generate $200 million in regional economic activity during construction.

The agency’s briefing also confirms that Governor Josh Shapiro’s office asked whether the highway could remain at two lanes with hard-shoulder running. PennDOT determined it was not feasible due to congestion, mobility, and safety concerns.

What’s Next

The February 12 bid date depends on permits that remain under review.

Kristen Battle, chair of the I-80 Project Impact AAA Task Force, says the coalition supports some improvements but opposes the full widening.

“We agree that the exit and entrance ramps need to be adjusted. We agree that the shoulders need to be widened,” Battle said. “What we don’t agree on is the six-lane expansion. We don’t think there’s enough room. It’s taking too many properties. It’s affecting our waterways.”

A petition organized by Rep. Probst to scale back the project has collected more than 2,000 signatures. She met with Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll in December 2023; he agreed to “give it another look.”

The design hasn’t changed.

Construction on the separate Exit 308 interchange project in East Stroudsburg—the “Eastburg Project”—continues toward a 2027 completion. That $100 million effort includes two new roundabouts at Prospect Street and replacement of the bridge over Lincoln Avenue.

For project maps and documents, visit www.I80project.com. The Monroe County Conservation District can be reached at (570) 629-3060. Rep. Probst’s petition is available at pahouse.com/Probst.