Resident says Dana Street utility repairs unfinished; city promises follow-up

Virginia Thomas, a resident of Dana Street in Wilkes-Barre, told council members at the Sept. 25 meeting that utility work on Dana Street between Hazel and Park avenues remained incomplete weeks after contractors installed temporary signage and left equipment in the roadway.

Thomas said contractors placed “no parking” signs and left a small steamroller near Hazel Street that later went missing; she reported a pipe sticking out of the pavement that once emitted water and a cone later left in the travel lane. “That section of Dana Street at night, when everybody's home, there is no parking spaces available. It's that crowded,” Thomas said. She said the road had ruts and gullies before the project and that the current condition posed a traffic and safety concern.

Mayor George Brown told Thomas the city would contact the water company and that City Administrator Charlie McCormack would follow up with her the next day to provide an update. Brown said the city has treated similar problems before by contacting contractors, revoking permits and, where warranted, preventing third-party contractors from working in the city.

The transcript records the mayor acknowledging responsibility to press the utility company for remedial work and promising a staff follow-up. The meeting record does not include a commitment to a specific repair timeline or a contractor name beyond Thomas’s recollection of a contractor acronym (RLE or similar). The resident asked the city to remove the cone and finish resurfacing the road; the mayor said staff would call the water company and report back.