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Photo credit/ Cheye

The French drain was installed to alleviate flooding issues.

The intersection at North Washington and University avenues has been a problem for students and Scranton community members alike. From flooding to scraping the bottom of cars, complaints about that section of road stretch back for years.

“The intersection of North Washington and University Avenue oversight and maintenance rests with the city of Scranton,” said Wendy Yankelitis Marywood’s vice president of operations.

However, there seems to be a dispute over who is responsible for the drain. The City of Scranton’s Department of Public Works claimed the drainage system is owned by Pennsylvania American Water.

“The drainage system was installed by the Scranton Sewer Authority prior to the acquisition by Pennsylvania American Water,” said Susan Turchmanovich, the external affairs manager for the water company. “We [PA American Water] are not aware of any complaints or issues regarding that area.”

Yankelitis went on to explain how a number of years ago a French drain was installed due to complaints from neighborhood residents. This is the grating at the bottom of the hill.

According to Yankelitis, homes at the bottom of the hill were being affected by runoff stormwater that caused flooding. This led to installing the grating, which corrected the issue.

“I agree there is a deeper slope or bump in the road. That is what was needed to correct the water issue,” said Yankelitis.

While this deeper slope in the road rectified the runoff flooding issue, it causes a problem for students, especially commuters, who use that intersection to travel to campus.

When turning off or on to University Avenue, cars end up scraping the pavement due to the angle of the slope.

“Personally, I hate driving over this intersection because the bottom of my car scrapes every time,” said Johanna Lettera, a commuter student at Marywood.

Cars scraping the pavement aren’t the only thing commuter students have to worry about. One commuter had to deal with a car repair after braking while turning on to University Avenue due to the slope in the road.

“The first day I drove on the intersection I did not expect how steep it was. I hit my brakes going up through it. Everything seemed fine but it turns out that braking broke the mechanism that controls the brake lights. My brake lights stayed on all day and drained my battery. It took two mechanics, two weeks, and $150 to fix the brake mechanism. This made it a very stressful first time going to school on Marywood’s campus in person,” said Kate McConomy, a Marywood commuter.

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