NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. — A massive rock slide covered a part of Route 11 in Northumberland County as crews worked to remove piles of fallen rocks.
PennDOT says heavy rainfall forced the rocks down onto the busy highway between Ridge Road in Point Township and Continental Boulevard in Danville, forcing Route 11 to be partially closed around it.
"We've had a lot of turn-around in our parking lot, which kind of clogs the parking lot,” said Brian Sosnoskie, the Post Commander at the American Legion Post 40 in Danville.
That American Legion is located on Route 11, not too far from the detour.
The road closure jammed up traffic throughout the day.
"It was insane, this afternoon, trying to come to work, there were two tractor-trailers trying to turn around from already being there, backing up the highway, so stuck beyond the gas station, just put it in park and waited,” said Susie Gearhart, a bartender and cook with the American Legion.
PennDOT estimates there are approximately 7,500 tons of rock in that rock slide that will need to be broken up and hauled away.
For the folks at the American Legion, they've already noticed a lot of their regulars aren't coming out because they don't want to deal with the long detour around the rock slide.
Members say they're already struggling financially due to COVID-19.
"Now it's going to be a compound on top of that, so I would add another 10, 15 percent of loss because of this,” said Sosnoskie.
"If someone said to you, 'let's go to the Danville Legion for something to eat' and you had to go through that [detour], you'd say 'no, let's go another time,'” said Gearhart.
PennDOT expects Route 11 to be closed for at least a week until crews can remove all the rocks and inspect the road for damages.