Courtney Spence

Contributing Writer

East Stroudsburg University’s Route 80 construction has been disrupting the steadiness of students who commute to college campus.

Commuting while Route 80 is under construction, can be frustrating.

“Not only are the roadways constantly being blocked off or turned into a one-way lane, but it takes me much longer to get up to ESU. It takes me about ten to fifteen minutes longer coming into and leaving ESU, which regularly would take me one to two minutes,” said an anonymous ESU commuter student.

Construction is starting to become inconvenient for students. Not only is it taking a while, but it is making it seem it’s like a permanent layout when as of now, that isn’t the case.

Right off Exit 80 to East Stroudsburg, a few traffic changes have been made this past summer 2025. More traffic lights have been added, causing not only more of a cluster of traffic, but also the distance to get to campus is a longer and more costly for commuters and faculty.

Many orange traffic cones are placed around the bridge and highway as an indicator to be cautious. Whether it is what is taking place currently or for the future, the planned goal is to reconstruct the bridge, and the area surrounding by it.

So, then drivers can easily get to and from there destination in a timely manner. Hence, all the current major construction and temporarily placed traffic lights.

While regularly on Route 80, the normal speed limit is 50 mph, in the construction zone around East Stroudsburg University it is 40 mph. Signs occur indicating the speed decrease as well as the construction ahead right after the Delaware Water Gap ramp entrance.

The mid-way point going up on the hill on Route 80 East, right before the East Stroudsburg exit, is where the majority of the construction is taking place.

Going under the bridge in either direction, is a tight squeeze, since the plan it to reconstruct the bridge into a better layout. On the construction site of Route 80 west right by college campus, a speed monitored vehicle has been placed.

When a driver disobeys the speed limit indicator, the speed monitored vehicle will take a picture of the driver’s car license plate and mail the owner a warning for the first time, after that the driver my obtain a ticket.

“The Route 80 construction negatively impacts my daily commute up to ESU. It has taken them months of continuous construction, and I feel it will never end,” said a local ESU commuter student.

The Route 80 East and West construction can easily throw people off causing distraction while driving, as well as confusion for students that drive to campus. Many commuters will likely try to leave even earlier to make sure the construction doesn’t stop them from arriving on time.

For more information on the construction visit the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania website.