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Roadwork Season: Two Big Projects in Abingtons

SOUTH ABINGTON TOWNSHIP — Crews are working on the Edella Road bridge over Interstate 81 in Lackawanna County. PennDOT says the project in South Abington ...

SOUTH ABINGTON TOWNSHIP -- Crews are working on the Edella Road bridge over Interstate 81 in Lackawanna County. PennDOT says the project in South Abington Township will take until August to complete.

"I work from home, so I'm OK, but my husband has to go out, so you have to plan ahead,” said Denise Gesford of South Abington Township.

There's a detour in place.

As part of the bridge replacement, there will also be occasional lane closures on Interstate 81 north and southbound as crews set beams and do other work.

In 2014, the Edella Road bridge was closed for repairs, and it was closed again in 2015 for about four months.

"The school buses are all disrupted and if we want to just take a simple trip to the grocery store, you have to go all the way around, so it is an inconvenience, very much so,” said Lynn Parise of South Abington Township.

Just about a mile from this bridge replacement is Shady Lane Road, which will close next week for bridge replacement. That job is expected to take until late November.

"My daughter has friends that live right on the other side of the bridge and it's going to be a pain to just go all the way around, big inconvenience," said Deanne Woytach of Glenburn Township.

Emergency responders like fire, police, and medics say they have planned ahead for these projects, setting up mutual aid from other departments to deal with emergencies that require detours. People are happy to hear that, but they want the bridges replaced as soon as possible.

"August? We were hoping for a few weeks,” laughed Parise.

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