It’s time to update the Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance Long Range Transportation Plan that will guide decision-making on projects through 2045, and NEPA is soliciting input from Monroe County residents.

At the Monroe County Safety Center Tuesday afternoon, a handful of county residents and officials gathered in little groups with representatives of NEPA, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, consultant Michael Baker International and others to voice their concerns.

The event was come-and-go. Residents pointed to problematic areas on a paper map of the county and wrote out their concerns on large sheets of paper.

Kristen Battle of the Stroudsburg I-80 Expansion Task Force expressed concern about two different PennDOT projects that plan to close Shafers School House Road at the intersection with Route 209 and the Dreher Avenue I-80 exit at the same time.

Battle said that blocking access to the interstate on two sides of town will redirect traffic into a residential area and slow down emergency response time to the south side of Stroudsburg.

Jeffrey Hill, a Chestnuthill resident since 1983, had multiple suggestions.

Hill argued against the roundabouts PennDOT is designing for Brodheadsville. He cited safety issues with roundabouts and called the roundabouts “wasted money.”

Instead, Hill suggested rerouting Route 115 to cross Route 209 further west on the edge of the Pleasant Valley School District property to fix Brodheadsville’s congestion issues.

Hill also said there is a problem with wrong-way drivers on Route 33 and suggested better signage for the ramps.

NEPA CEO Jeffrey Box pointed to a knot of people in lively discussion around the map.

“This is what it’s really about,” he said enthusiastically.

It’s absolutely necessary for county residents to give input because they are familiar with local issues that need to be addressed, Box explained.

NEPA is the Metropolitan Planning Organization for Carbon, Monroe, Pike and Schuylkill counties. It is holding separate open houses for all four counties this week.

NEPA first created this long-term plan in 2016 and will update it every several years. The plan is created in partnership with local, state and federal agencies and identifies transportation projects that need to be done in this region.

NEPA will take into account the information collected at the open houses and through an online survey and will send out another form for public comment before adopting the final plan next March, Vice President Alan Baranski said.

So far, the survey has garnered about 100 responses, consultant Tracey Vernon said.

The survey will be open for another month and can be accessed at https://NEPA-LRTP.metroquest.com.