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Route 611 stretch to finally reopen under National Park Service, PennDOT deal

Lehigh Valley Live

MOUNT POCONO, PA , July 22, 2024
“In my ongoing meetings with PennDOT, the National Park Service and the Federal Highway Administration -- along with national, state and local public officials -- we were able to find common ground that included prioritizing the opening of the road to traffic while keeping motorists safe,” Cartwright said.

Drivers who use Route 611 in northern Northampton County have some good news for the first time in many months.

 

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the National Park Service have reached a compromise when it comes to reopening Route 611 within the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, according to U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Pa.

“In my ongoing meetings with PennDOT, the National Park Service and the Federal Highway Administration -- along with national, state and local public officials -- we were able to find common ground that included prioritizing the opening of the road to traffic while keeping motorists safe,” Cartwright said in a statement.

 
 

Drivers who normally travelled through Portland have had to bypass the small borough, including its restaurants and businesses, and go into New Jersey to Interstate 80 or find alternate routes.

 
 

The Portland-Columbia bridge that leads to I-80 is a toll bridge. So, commuters and other drivers who previously had travelled on Route 611 for free, have had to pay tolls every day for over a year and a half to cross the bridge.

Read more here.