Pocono News Section

3-Week Rt. 11 Closure in Northumberland County

3-Week Rt. 11 Closure in Northumberland County - Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at 5:25PM EST

Northumberland County-
PennDOT has begun a three-week detour of Route 11 in Northumberland County. They’re urging motorists to be aware of the work being done there.

PennDOT is set to reconstruct and resurface three miles of Route 11 between Northumberland and Sunbury. It’s a detour that residents and business owners fear will cause a traffic nightmare.

Adam Klock, of Northumberland, said, “Essentially you’re shutting down an artery in this area and putting a lot of pressure on the surrounding roads.”

People here say they would’ve preferred PennDOT shut down one lane of Route 11 at a time, rather than closing the entire highway.

To avoid the Route 11 road closure, motorists are being re-routed using Route 147 through Northumberland and Route 61 (Front Street) in Sunbury.

Clayton Krieger owns North Branch Auto Sales on the stretch of Route 11 that’s essentially been shut down. He says the work is especially ill-timed because June is his best month in terms of sales.

Krieger noted, “Obviously this is crushing me for a couple weeks because nobody can come by. I have 20-some thousand cars a day coming by and now there’s two. I mean it’s like being in an alley somewhere.”

PennDOT officials say they’re doing their best to get the work done quickly and efficiently.

PennDOT spokesman Rick Mason explained, “We’re making every effort to get that concrete section reconstructed in as quick a time as possible. The contractor’s going to be working around the clock during that three week period.”

Residents acknowledge the traffic backlog wasn’t too heavy on Tuesday. They’re holding their breath in hopes that it stays that way.

Klock added, “I would not mind eating crow on this whole issue if PennDOT took preemptive measures that will keep traffic levels to what they’re at today so far.”

The Route 11 work will also include drainage improvements, new curbs and sidewalks, and traffic signal updates. PennDOT expects the entire project to be completed by the end of July.