BEAR CREEK TOWNSHIP, PA — Built in 1957, the Laurel Run Road Bridge stretches over the Pennsylvania Turnpike near the Wilkes-Barre exit.
In November, the Turnpike Commission plans to bid out the bridge for a full reconstruction.
Work would then start in March and take about seven months to complete.
Bear Creek Township supervisor Mark Petlock says the project involves Turnpike Commission raising the bridge and also making it wider.
But it also involves a long detour for residents trying to get to Route 115.
"We are not against progress. There's another way we can do that, that you can stop the detour," said Mark Petlock, Bear Creek Township Supervisor.
Petlock also worries about safety.
"With tearing out this bridge that detour is unacceptable, especially on a safety factor. I mean, we are putting are putting a good 20 miles more 30 to 40 minutes more to get someone to Geisinger because our Ambulance up here comes from Geisinger area," he explained.
Paul Pawlowski lives close to the Laurel Run road Bridge and is not looking forward to having the bridge closed for several months.
"Why can't this be done in a couple a couple weeks, ya know, the bridge torn down, something trucked in, something out there. There's gotta be newer ways of doing this," he said.
Bear Creek Township supervisors hope to meet with the Turnpike Commission to see if the planned detour can be made shorter.
But the Turnpike Commission says that because Laurel Run Road is a state road, it will use detours approved by PennDOT.
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