Two roads to be renamed after President Biden in his Pa. hometown

Cody Butler and Zachary Smith/WBRE

Updated: Jul 8, 2021 / 12:15 PM CDT

SCRANTON, Pa. (WBRE) — Officials in the Electric City plan to re-name two roadways after President Joe Biden.

Scranton City Council unanimously approved the renaming of Spruce Street and the Central Scranton Expressway on Tuesday night.

The expressway will be named “President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Expressway” or Biden expressway for short.
It leads right into the downtown area on Spruce Street.

Spruce Street is home to a lot of small businesses. Now, some of those businesses might need to make some changes.

NewsNation affiliate WBRE spoke with business owners, including Northern Light Espresso Bar and Cafe owner Jennifer Saunders, about the change and how it will affect them in the coming weeks.

“The business address as far as, letterhead, business cards, vendors, changing that address. Those are the initial things that come to mind,” Saunders said. “I think the actual naming of the street is a street.”

There will be two more votes by the city council in the coming weeks to finalize the ordinance. They will have to approve the cost of new city street signs, which will be made by the city’s Department of Public Works in addition to working with PennDOT to change signs on Interstate 81.