SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)— We begin with a pair of construction projects wreaking havoc on a local shopping center.
The work is being completed about a block apart in Lackawanna County and its causing concern for customers and business owners.
The wastewater project is taking place in the parking lot of Greenridge Plaza while the bridge reconstruction project is taking place outside the plaza just a few hundred feet away.
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Owners of a pizza shop in the area say it's causing them to lose business.
15 businesses make up the Greenridge Plaza, many of them small family owned shops who can use all the traffic they can get, but two long-term construction projects are literally rerouting traffic.
Holly Warren, co-owner of Izzy's Pizza, says her family business is under stress to the point where they might not survive.
"We are on the fence of closing. Like we are fighting and fighting and it's just not getting anywhere," stated Warren.
The improvement projects have caused many people to avoid the area altogether, which has led to a decline in business for many in the plaza, including Warrens.
She tells me some of their regular customers have actually called the shop apologizing they couldn't make it in.
"Some of our regulars that used to come in for our wing nights, they will start to come over and they forget about the construction and they're blocked off so they end up going somewhere else," explained Warren.
The shop opened in February of 2024, the brainchild of warren's 15-year-old son, Izzy. She says he saved up enough money to buy the shop's pizza oven, and thought it would be cool to let customers build their own pies.
And while the construction has kept many away, some say it's their pizza is worth the hassle.
"It's really fun, for the kids to get interactive with the food and, like, have fun with their friends and enjoy the pizza that they want to make," expressed Scranton resident Cameron Davis.
"It's a really small business, but it should be a big one with how good it is," added George Arias, from Scranton.
"You can't go somewhere and make your own pizza, you know, and who doesn't love doing that," said Davis.
Now, the flood project in the plaza's parking lot is expected to be finished by the end of 2025.
As for the other, a temporary bridge is currently being built so that crews can demolish the original and begin construction on a replacement. There is not a clear window as to when this project might be complete.
