LUZERNE COUNTY -- Traffic was moving slowly on Interstate 81 northbound Tuesday starting at the Avoca Airport exit near mile marker 176.
According to PennDOT, crews were supposed to finish an overnight paint job at around 6 a.m. Tuesday, but their paint machine broke and they decided to finish the job during rush hour.
There was a massive backlog of vehicles stuck on Interstate 81 northbound in Dupont.
PennDOT points out it does not schedule lane closures during rush hours, but during this morning's rush hour, 10 miles of cars were in a near standstill northbound.
PennDOT insists the reason for the lane closure and backup is that paintjob that was supposed to be finished by 6 a.m. but was delayed when the machine broke.
Newswatch 16 did not receive any email alerts from PennDOT Tuesday morning and we did not see any messages on those electronic message boards on Interstate 81 either.
Sue Henry of WILK radio fielded dozens of calls from upset drivers, many late to appointments. She encouraged callers to call PennDOT and complain.
"When I was coming to work this morning, I was on Interstate 81 this morning and it came to a dead stop," said Henry. "When I got here, I was amazed that no one here knew that this line painting was happening during rush hour."
PennDOT confirms complaints from drivers went way up during Sue Henry's radio show.
According to PennDOT, you should expect major delays and slow moving traffic through the morning and into the afternoon hours.
For more traffic information, visit wnep.com/traffic.