BLOOMSBURG, Pa. — The $6.8 million Bloomsburg reconstruction project is underway on parts of Route 487. It's expected to include new sidewalks, drainage improvements, and more. But with sections of Route 487 closed, a detour is causing problems in Bloomsburg.
"A lot of people who know the area are failing to use the detour and are taking it through a portion of Bloomsburg that's a small neighborhood with narrow streets, a lot of parked cars, and an area that's not used to seeing much in the way of traffic," said Bloomsburg Police Chief Roger Van Loan.
The Bloomsburg Police Department has gotten numerous complaints about people not using the detour set up by PennDOT, which takes drivers around the construction.
"A tractor-trailer tried to make this turn and it almost took out our electrical pole," said Jason Albertson who lives near the construction and has seen extra traffic recently from drivers avoiding the detour.
"They're mad because this road is closed here and this whole corner is closed off and they'll rocket through this street."
The police chief recently put out a notice regarding the detour.
"When there are signs in place, official traffic control devices directing you to follow a certain route, you must follow that route. If you don't follow that route, you could be cited for failure to obey traffic control devices," Chief Van Load said.
Van Loan says the detour only adds about one minute to your commute.
"I'd rather see people add a minute to their time than run over a child in a small neighborhood where they're not used to any traffic at all and now hundreds of cars a day are passing through this small area."
The construction project is expected to wrap up in the fall of 2022. There is no word on whether the detour will be in effect the entire time.