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Road Work Slows I-81 Traffic Near Clarks Summit

SOUTH ABINGTON TOWNSHIP — The frigid weather is causing all sorts of problems across the area including damage to Interstate 81 in Lackawanna County. The ...
lacka frost heave

SOUTH ABINGTON TOWNSHIP -- The frigid weather is causing all sorts of problems across the area including damage to Interstate 81 in Lackawanna County.

The frost caused the highway to rise up in one spot along the northbound lanes between the Clarks Summit and Waverly exits.

PennDOT is shutting down one lane so crews can take care of the bump in the road.

Whether you're driving along the interstate or traveling on more rural roads you may have found yourself driving over some bumps in the road.

Those bumps aren't potholes but they can be just as damaging they are called "frost heaves" or more simply "nature's speed bumps."

"What's happening this time of year, is because it's been so, so cold the frost that is underneath the ground, freezes and when it freezes, it expands," said PennDOT official James May.

The expansion causes the road to literally lift in place and it's causing some problems for drivers.

A truck driver lost his fuel tank after crossing over a heave on Interstate 81north, just north of the Clarks Summit exit.

By mid-afternoon on Friday, Newswatch 16 learned that PennDOT was forced to shut down that same section of I-81 north to fix the heave. It's scheduled to be down for quite a few hours.

"Right now the ground is completely frozen in there. In theory the only thing we can do is shut down 81 and remove these bumps," May said.

PennDOT officials say drivers need to take extra caution when driving on these roads, and not tailgate behind tractor trailers. There is a lot of chipped off snow and ice on the side of the roadways and that's coming from when the tractor trailers go over these frost heaves.

"The snow flying off all the tractor trailers, yeah, the drifting, you got to be careful in this weather," said Bruce Burns of Clarks Summit.

People are also being encouraged to drive slow on rural roads, too. Folks in South Abington Township say they've seen and felt frost heaves on many different roads.

"Whenever you're going down the road, it's like 'boom, boom, boom,' and it makes you stop and think that it might be your tires, but it is the road," said Rhonda Wetherbee of Tunkhannock.

"Unfortunately, I think it's just a winter thing. This cold weather isn't really helping anyone, really. I don't think there is much you can do about it though, until the spring," Burns added.

PennDOT officials say although they will be milling down the frost heave on Interstate 81north, the heaves typically fix themselves when the road thaws out, but until that happens, they encourage all drivers to continue to use caution when hitting those winter bumps in the road.

Interstate 81 north near Clarks Summit is scheduled to be down to one lane through Saturday morning.

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