Project Briefing

I-80 Section 17M Reconstruction Project Monroe County
ANTICIPATED LET DATE for Construction Breakout Section #1 (Section BO1) – December 11, 2025

In May 2025, PennDOT provides a briefing which summarizes project purpose, recent progress, and estimated schedule for construction.

Project Description:

The Interstate 80 (I-80) Section 17M project includes 3.5 miles of full roadway reconstruction, widening, and interchange reconfiguration from Exit 303 to Exit 307 and extending just beyond the bridge over Broadhead Creek in Monroe County, Pennsylvania.

  • The project corridor passes through three municipalities in Monroe County including Stroud Township to the west, the Borough of Stroudsburg, and the Borough of East Stroudsburg to the east.
  • The project limits run from west of the Exit 303 interchange to east of Exit 307 and the Brodhead Creek Bridge in East Stroudsburg.
  • Also, a portion of Business Route 209 will be reconstructed (in between Exits 304 and 305 on I-80).
  • I-80 will include 12-foot travel lanes, 12-foot inside shoulders, 12-foot outside shoulders, and longer interchange acceleration and deceleration lane lengths.
  • All structures carrying mainline I-80 will be evaluated for rehabilitation vs replacement options to include widening and provide 16 feet, 6 inches of vertical clearance.
  • 2 lanes (each direction) of traffic will be maintained during construction.
  • These I-80 improvements will be constructed under three separate construction contracts, starting in the west and moving east.

Project Purpose and Need:

The purpose of the I-80 Reconstruction project is to provide a safe and efficient transportation system for both local and regional connections in the area by reducing future congestion and improving safety and mobility by bringing I-80 up to current standards. The project environmental clearance level is Environmental Assessment (EA). The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) in 2020, and an EA re-evaluation was secured in September 2024.

The following are the project needs:

Safety

Crash rates are above the statewide average, with a high percentage of rear-end, side swipe, and hit fixed object crashes attributed to the congestion and geometric deficiencies within the corridor. Geometric deficiencies include:

  • Acceleration and deceleration lane lengths below current design criteria.
  • Insufficient weave lengths between entrance and exit ramps.
  • Insufficient shoulder widths: existing shoulders range from 1 foot to 10 feet (10 feet to 12 feet minimum are required on interstate highways). This results in reduced access for emergency vehicles during incidents and reduced areas for disabled vehicles.

Deteriorated roadway and bridge components cause hazardous conditions under normal use as well as during lane closures for highway maintenance work. The pavement, constructed in the 1950s and 1960s, has reached the end of its useful life and is in poor condition.

Congestion

Existing and projected future high traffic volumes contribute to congestion in the project area. Current volumes on I-80 average approximately 47,300 – 70,500 vehicles per day with 12% trucks. The design year (2045) projections show volumes of approximately 89,200 – 132,800 vehicles per day. The additional future traffic will increase congestion, with the entire mainline from Exit 304 to Exit 307.

Mobility

System continuity is lacking. Design criteria as well as driver expectations call for all traffic movements to be available at each interchange. Exits 303, 304, and 306 provide only some of the connections available. The project corridor services both local and through traffic, creating conflicts between the types of traffic and deviating from the intent of the interstate system to facilitate long range travel. Four lanes of traffic (two in each direction) must be maintained on I-80 during construction. The Strategic Highway Network system is the system of roads deemed necessary to support the Department of Defense’s operations. As a component of this system, all structures on I-80 must include minimum vertical clearances of 16’ 6”.

Project Overview/Status:

  • In 2009, PennDOT completed the I-80 Corridor Study which provided a broader study of the I-80 corridor project area from Exit 293 (I-380) to Exit 310 (Delaware Water Gap). One of the study’s conclusions and recommendations was to advance these segments from Exit 303 (PA 611) to Exit 307 (PA 611/PA 191) to further study, design and construct.
  • The I-80 Reconstruction-Monroe project was initially added to the 2013 Interstate Program as part of the Statewide “Design Start” efforts to support passing the Decade of Investment (DOI) State Revenue enhancement plan (Act 89). When Act 89 was passed, additional phases of the project were included as part of the 2015 Interstate Program.
  • Five build alternatives (plus the No-Build alternative) were developed and presented to the public for input during on February 20th and 23rd of 2014, with nearly 200 people attending each meeting.
  • In total, three open houses were conducted for public and elected officials. In addition, the Department held two agency coordination meetings (ACM), multiple meetings with local officials and is continually in contact with local officials to update them about the project.
  • Office of Governor/Secretary asked to explore keeping the highway to two lanes with hard shoulder running, but this was not feasible due to congestion, mobility, and safety concerns.
  • A project advisory committee (PAC) was formed in March 2018, with the purpose of public outreach and to get feedback on the project. The PAC is represented by people from all walks of life including public officials, business owners, political leadership, transit, tourism, trucking services, etc. Three PAC meetings were held since March 30, 2018.
  • A public hearing was held on November 13, 2019 to formally solicit public comment on the EA document.
  • Overview meetings were held with regional and local emergency services, and additional coordination will occur as the projects get closer to construction.
  • The FONSI was approved by FHWA on January 30, 2020, and preferred alternative (2D) was selected for final design.
  • Project Safety Study has been approved by the Department.
  • Design Field View and Final Point of Access Study is approved by FHWA.
  • Currently, the project is in the final design phase.
  • GAP Right of Way (ROW) plans were approved and recorded in 2021, right of way acquisition involving 13 properties is ongoing, including relocation(s) if required.
  • Regular ROW plans for the entire project are in development and anticipated to be completed by June 2025. A total of 23 acquisitions are needed along the project corridor.
  • Over 200 parcels will require nominal acquisitions along sideroad frontage to accommodate sidewalks or rear yards for noise walls or roadway grading and drainage.
  • The Department has responded to community/municipality concerns by updating designs to reduce right of way impacts, reducing property impacts, and taking traffic concerns into account during design. Accordingly, over 30,000 lineal feet of retaining walls are proposed.
  • The Department determined three lanes in each direction are necessary to accommodate future traffic needs and provide additional space for emergency service vehicles during incidents.
  • The Department also determined via noise analysis that a sound wall is not warranted at the Lar Bar Village location. Exit 306 (Dreher Avenue) will be permanently closed due to the need to maintain spacing between exits and accommodate traffic weaving. To compensate, the Department is proposing to construct the Dreher Avenue Connector which will link traffic from the Dreher Avenue neighborhood to West Main Street and to the interchange at Exit 304.
  • As part of the environmental clearance process, the Department is performing archaeological investigations along the corridor. These efforts have uncovered numerous artifacts which are being cleaned, catalogued and recorded for the Pennsylvania State Museum in Harrisburg. Artifacts may include pre-contact (Native American) period artifacts which is common for Pennsylvania projects.
  • No artifacts were carbon dated as part of the recent survey. The provided date range is based on established projectile point typology and temporal seriation established for the Commonwealth and larger Mid-Atlantic Region.
  • No pre-contact cultural features were encountered during the recent survey.
  • No red ochre or other potential burial-related items were encountered/recovered as part of the recent survey. The artifacts recovered (limited to lithic debitage only) indicate occupation/use of the landform during the time period between 5,000-7,000 years BP; however, the areas where excavations were conducted did not encounter evidence of any house patterns or burials.
  • As part of the project mitigation and lack of available sites within or adjoining the corridor due to the developed project area, the Department is proposing to use an off-site stream and wetland mitigation bank (Sunny Brook in Wayne County). The jurisdictional agencies agree with this mitigation bank solution and the permits will be advanced accordingly.
  • For Section BO1, the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) is under technical review by the Monroe County Conservation District on behalf of the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). In addition, the Section 105/Joint Permit Application has been submitted into the DEP Keystone Environmental ePermitting System and is under review.
  • Economic Benefits: A preliminary economic benefits study was performed during the preliminary engineering phase and concluded the project would have an estimated $200 million benefit to the region and create approximately 1200 jobs (mainly in retail, restaurants, and lodging) during the construction phase.
  • As part of the Section BO1 project, the Department will also connect and integrate existing traffic signals along PA 611 into their Advanced Traffic Management Systems software to allow the District 5 Traffic Management Center (TMC) to monitor conditions and quickly implement traffic signal timing changes to address changing traffic conditions. The TMC operators can implement timings due to incidents along I- 80 or other local roads where traffic diverts to the PA 611 and Business Route 209 corridors.

Construction

  • The project total estimate for construction is $935,000,000.
  • To allow for a competitive bidding process and better management of construction unit resources, construction is broken into 3 construction contracts:
    • Construction contract 1 (I-80 B01 – MPMS 118999) Exit 303 from approximately the Hamilton Township line with Stroud Township to just east of Exit 303 (Ninth Street), estimated cost: $217 million.
    • Construction contract 2 (I-80 B02 – MPMS 119000) Exits 304 and 305 from just east of Exit 303 (Ninth Street) to just west of Dreher Avenue, estimated cost: $437 million.
    • Construction contract 3 (I-80 17M – MPMS 76357) Exits 306 and 307 from just west of Dreher Avenue to just east of Exit 307 (PA 611 To PA 191), estimated cost: $281 million.
  • The estimated let date for construction contract 1 is December 11, 2025.
  • The construction time for each project is anticipated to take four years.