A slow going west county traffic project is causing headaches for some business owners.
We talked to the owner of a restaurant who says PennDOT needs to pick up the pace because time is money.
A reconstruction project along I-90 has been underway for two years, and drivers and business in the area continue to face complications from the road repairs.
The I-90 interstate project is a three year project that takes place from mile marker 3.5 to mile marker 10.5. All of the eastbound lanes, the bridge, and interchange of Route 18 are undergoing repairs in the project.
An owner and general manager of a restaurant in the area told us he has seen a difference in his customers since the reconstruction.
“Obviously with the bridge shutting down it’s slowed things down, we won’t be getting customers from Ohio or Erie, and then even in local towns like Girard and Lake City. So there was an impact there,” said Sean Tuznik, owner & general manager, Madeline’s Dining and Events.
Tuznik told us other residents say emergency personnel are also being impacted by the construction.
“I understand there’s some local people around here like the ambulance routes, the fire trucks, everything else has had to be either taken care of from different departments or their routes just got a lot longer to be able to respond to things on I-90,” said Tuznik.
PennDOT press officer Jill Harry told us there are detours in place to help traffic continue flowing smoothly, but it has caused a few complications.
“We’ve seen what you would typically imagine would happen in those kinds of situations where there’s been some tie-ups from time to time because there’s been accidents and other things, but overall the traffic has been flowing through that area pretty successfully,” said Jill Harry, press officer, PennDOT Northwest Region.
Harry said it comes down to the motorists in the area paying more attention to avoid accidents. Tuznik said he wishes more could be done to make matters better.
“I wish there was a better way to handle it, finding closer alternative routes, making another road offset, or anything like that,” said Tuznik.
Click here to stay up to date on the construction project along I-90.
