MOOSIC -- Cars can finally roll across a bridge that had been closed for more than four years, but it's not all good news for drivers in this part of Lackawanna County.
In 2011, PennDOT said a bridge on Main Street in Moosic was unsafe and had to be closed. Now more than four years later, and after several delays, that bridge is finally back open.
But traffic is still not back to normal in that part of Lackawanna County.
For Susan Jones of Moosic, the past four years have been a struggle. The gift shop and deli her father started back in 1949 sits right next to the bridge on Main Street that's been closed for four years.
"I get emotional, excuse me, I just had to keep going," Jones said.
PennDOT declared the bridge unsafe in April of 2011 and the detours caused some customers to stay away.
"Awful, awful, good days, bad days, a lot of bad days, first couple of days, really bad," said Jones.
Jones carried on in her dad's memory. She credits hardcore fans of her extra creamy tuna salad.
On her wall are newspaper clippings, some of them yellowed, tracking the project's progress.
But at long last the bridge is back open.
At a ceremony people cheered as police and fire vehicles put on their lights on and drove across.
"Thank God this bridge is opening, it took forever, thank God," said Krissy Higgins of Moosic.
While the newly named Moosic Veterans Memorial Bridge is back open, things are not entirely back to normal. Traffic is still being impacted by another bridge project nearby.
The bridge at Main Street and Lonesome Road that connects Moosic with Old Forge is also being rebuilt. Some traffic will still be detoured in this area, including large trucks.
"We are concerned they will not be able to make the turn up here, so because of that, we are still banning large semi trucks on this road so they do not get down there and get stuck," explained PennDOT official James May.
The Lonesome Road bridge project is scheduled to be done by November. PennDOT's spokesperson says the wrong size beams were ordered, but they still believe it will reopen on schedule.