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Interstate 80 Rest Area in Montour County Closed over July 4th Holiday

MAHONING TOWNSHIP — More people are expected to hit the road this Fourth of July holiday because gasoline prices are so low, but folks traveling Interstat...
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MAHONING TOWNSHIP -- More people are expected to hit the road this Fourth of July holiday because gasoline prices are so low, but folks traveling Interstate 80 better not need a bathroom break in Montour County because the rest area has closed, and might be for the entire summer season.

The Danville rest area on eastbound Interstate 80 closed on June 12 because the water tank was leaking. The rest area reopened 10 days later but now it's closed again because the water tank needs to be replaced.

Bright orange barricades and a "road closed" sign block the entrance to the Danville rest area on eastbound Interstate 80.  But as people travel for the Fourth of July holiday, a closed rest stop is not what they want to see.

"We saw a sign coming up for it, and once we got close, we noticed that it was shut down," said Natoshia Cunningham, Cincinnati, Ohio.

The Danville rest area is closed for the second time this month.   PennDOT officials say a water tank broke and the replacement needs to be custom made.   That will take up to eight weeks and then another week to install.

In other words, this rest stop may be closed all summer.

"We've got a couple of little kids and a dog.  They were starting to get whiny, so it could have been a problem," said Cunningham.

The eastbound Danville rest area is right in between the Carroll and Mifflinville rest areas.  Since the Danville spot is closed, if drivers want to stay on Interstate 80, they must wait 52 miles between rest stops.

That's an inconvenience for Cunningham who is driving from Ohio to New Jersey with two small children and a dog.

"Sometimes it can be challenging being on the road if somebody decides to start crying, needs a bathroom or gets hungry."

While some people told Newswatch 16 they were inconvenienced by the rest stop being closed, others said PennDOT did have enough signs letting them know about the closure.

"If you read the signs, it really wasn't an inconvenience at all."

Al Berends was driving from Michigan to New Jersey.  We caught up with him at the Mifflinville rest area in Columbia County.  It didn't bother him that the Danville stop was closed.

"There was a sign, I want to say just at a guess, probably 25 miles beforehand that that rest area is closed, warning you, Actually i think at the prior one."

Newswatch 16 asked PennDOT if they could open the Danville rest area with porta potties for the holiday weekend.  PennDOT officials say no because the porta potties cannot be serviced without water.

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