WRIGHT TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Drivers will need to find a new route due to a bridge closure in Luzerne County.
The Wright Township Bridge on South Main Road near Mountain Top closed Thursday for emergency repairs, according to PennDOT.
As PennDOT workers began to close down this section of State Route 2045 in Mountain Top, there was some confusion among drivers began.
The closed section is just south of Nuangola Road in Wright Township.
"For 5:00 tonight when everybody's getting out of work trying to get home, it's going to be a real mess," said Kim Fritzges a Peters Oil Dispatcher.
PennDOT's spokesperson says this closure is for emergency bridge repairs. The bridge is expected to be closed until September of next year.
A recent assessment determined that the bridge is unsafe to drive on.
"PennDOT expects this closure to heavily impact this part of Mountain Top. The agency estimates about 4,000 cars travel over this bridge a day.
"During the inspection, they found out that there was a lot of deterioration to the pipe that goes under the road, in fact, you can even see where the road is beginning to collapse from up top right overtop that pipe," said James May, PennDOT spokesperson.
PennDOT says these repairs were scheduled to be done in the spring, but after the inspection, the state determined the road needed to be closed now.
PennDOT's spokesperson says even though the road is closed, repairs will not be able to start now.
"So, it's only a few month project, but you can only start it when the weather breaks in the spring," added May.
"That's the only way I found out when I saw the newspeople out here. I come out and asked what was going on," said Fritzges.
Now that they know about it, they are concerned about how long it will be closed.
"I know, that's almost a year. It's going to be a complete mess for people trying to get back in forth for work," explained Fritzges.
PennDOT has posted detour signs to help drivers get around the closure.