Work set to begin on access road project in Carbon County

A long-awaited access road project is finally a go in Carbon County.

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein said work on the road, which will lead to the county’s new fire training center in Nesquehoning, should start the first week of September. This is the first phase of the multiphase project.

“Weather permitting, they’ll begin tearing out the old road and leveling things out,” Nothstein said. “They’ll be doing all the things you associate with new road construction.”

Bruce George Paving and Excavating of Kunkletown will be completing the work after the company submitted a low bid of $811,869.85.

A Departmental of Environmental Protection permit, needed for building a road across a stream, held up the project for quite some time.

The county originally applied for the permit in 2017, but had to resubmit it after DEP never acted on it.

The project, dubbed Phase 1A, includes widening Emergency Lane in Nesquehoning, from 11 feet to 22 feet to accommodate firetrucks and larger emergency vehicles that will use the site.

It is a part of a larger-scale fire training center project that will include two buildings with a drill tower, live fire training sites, a police training facility and classrooms where first responders can receive instruction and training.

“We don’t have a timeline right now for completion of the access road, but we’re excited to see it get started,” Nothstein said.