Work underway to add all-access fishing pier on Griffin Reservoir

REPOSTED from The Times Tribune

SOUTH ABINGTON TWP. — A public, disabled-accessible fishing pier at Griffin Reservoir could be open by summer.

Signs of the work at the future site along Reservoir Road are evident. The pier’s wooden skeleton is visible from Scott Road where it spans nearby Leggett’s Creek. Volunteers worked weekends clearing trees and brush at the site and constructing the pier.

“It’s already open to fishing for the public, but this makes it accessible to everyone,” Pennsylvania American Water spokeswoman Susan Turcmanovich said.

The pier should be completed in two weeks, said Daniel Rickard, Pennsylvania American Water senior project manager. Planners consulted with Allied Services for guidance on ways to make the structure most accessible, he said. The pier will feature a ramp and handrails of several different heights to facilitate people who need to be seated.

Work on the site will wrap up next year with paving, which will add a parking area off Reservoir Road and access to the pier from the lot, Rickard said. Officials plan to have the pier open for use by summer. It will be open from dawn till dusk.

Griffin Reservoir was one of several water company-owned reservoirs opened to shore fishing in 2011. It will be the first to feature an all-access, completely public fishing pier once work is complete, although Lake Scranton also has one that can be used through a program with Allied Services, Turcmanovich said. Griffin Reservoir is home to typical warm-water fish, such as bass, pickerel and bluegill, said Allan Schreffler, education specialist with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission’s Northeast Region Office.

“We identified this reservoir as a good candidate for the fishing pier project due to its location, proximity to population and its good fishing history,” Rickard said.

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