AVOCA -- One of the busiest parts of Interstate 81 is scheduled to shut down Tuesday night.
Crews are preparing to replace a pedestrian bridge that spans the interstate near the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport.
At about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, construction crews plan to take a new bridge and line it up alongside the old one. To do that, they'll have to shut down I-81 south between the Moosic and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Airport exits from 9:30 to 10 p.m.
Then at 11 p.m. until about 11:40 p.m., they plan to shut down the northbound side in the same area.
This is all part of a larger project to rebuild the airport interchange and make it easier for cars and trucks to get through this area.
PennDOT estimates 70,000 vehicles drive on this stretch Interstate 81 near Avoca every day, and that puts a strain on several intersections near the interstate, including one at Route 315 and Oak Street. A lot of the trucks that come off I-81 enter an industrial park there.
"Right now, a lot of trucks are going through Avoca and Dupont and some of those areas, and by bringing those trucks up to this area, it will relieve some of the congestion on (Route) 315," said PennDOT official James May.
One of the main reasons PennDOT is rebuilding the interchange near the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton airport is to give trucks a better way to get to the industrial parks in the Avoca area.
"It's a very, very large project (that) involves on and off ramps being extended," May said.
As part of the interchange project, PennDOT is replacing a pedestrian bridge because a longer bridge will be needed to cross a wider section of the interstate.
Joe Starinsky lives in the area and says he walks across the bridge often.
"It's good to have because a lot of people live up that way and they walk over this way and they go to downtown Avoca."
PennDOT doesn't keep statistics on how many people use this bridge, but it says that's not the main reason it needs to keep one here.
"It's a legal commitment as well as a moral commitment to maintain access between both sides of the community here," said May.
It will only take a few hours to put up the new bridge, but PennDOT won't allow walkers to use it until sometime in the spring.
PennDOT plans to close both sides of Interstate 81 at different times about 9:30 p.m. southbound and at about 11 p.m. northbound.
The entire airport interchange project along Interstate 81 is scheduled to be completed next year.