UPDATE 3:30 P.M. -- Both lanes of Interstate 81 north have reopened after the crash, according to PennDOT.
AVOCA -- Part of Interstate 81 was shut down in Luzerne County due to a deadly crash.
One lane of I-81 northbound was closed just past the Avoca exit after a tractor-trailer crashed.
According to state police, the truck crashed into construction barriers, closing both northbound lanes for a period of time.
Northbound Interstate 81 was backed up for miles and alternate routes were also congested.
State police say the driver was thrown from the tractor trailer and trapped underneath. Troopers say he was not wearing a seatbelt.
For most of the morning, traffic on Interstate 81 north was backed up as far as eight miles down to the Bear Creek/Wilkes-Barre exit (170) near Wilkes-Barre.
And it wasn't only I-81 that was a mess; many of the alternate routes were also bumper to bumper.
Route 11 which is also Main Street in Avoca has been slow going since the crash.
"I was coming back from Wilkes-Barre. We sat in the heat. It was long! It was horrible, just very, very long!" said James Barber of Avoca.
Drivers who tried to avoid the backup on I-81 say alternate routes were just as bad.
"Oh, I was stuck on Main Street in Avoca for at least a good hour! It took me about an hour and a half to get to work this morning," said Brianna O'Rourke
O'Rourke says she was an hour late to work at Llewellyn's Pharmacy. She tried beating the traffic by getting on Route 11 in Avoca. She was met with more drivers like her looking for a way around I-81.
The owner of Valley Meat and Deli in Avoca says he took the same route and it was a nightmare. It was a close call for him to get the store open on time.
"There was just a lot of people that were honking their horns and so on. I live in Hughestown and it took me 45 minutes just to get here from Hughestown over to Avoca, and that's what two to three miles?" Bill Renfer said.
Drivers who decided to take the Pennsylvania Turnpike to get around the crash were also stuck. Traffic at the Keyser Avenue interchange was backed up at the toll booths. Even the express lane was tied up by cars and trucks without E-ZPass.
The coroner's office confirmed the victim in this crash is a man, but will not release the name until the family is notified.
State police are investigating what caused the driver, who was hauling pretzels in this truck, to veer off the highway.
