Uniontown/Connellsville may see increased traffic due to detour Thursday
Anticipate increased traffic on Route 40 west and Route 119 north Thursday because of a truck accident on the turnpike over the weekend.
A 100-mile detour is in store for westbound motorists planning to use the Pennsylvania Turnpike between Breezewood and New Stanton starting at 9 a.m.
The 86-mile stretch of I-76 will be closed for three hours to allow crews to recover a tractor trailer that went over an embankment in Bedford County over the weekend. The closure is expected to last about three hours, though the road will remain closed for however long it takes to remove the truck.
The suggested detour is for westbound traffic to take I-70 east from Breezewood to I-68 west in Maryland, getting off the interstate onto Route 40 at the Uniontown exit, then following Route 40 to Route 119, back to the Pennsylvania Turnpike at New Stanton. According to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, shorter detour routes cannot safely handle the diverted traffic volumes.
Only the westbound Breezewood interchange will be closed. Westbound traffic entering the turnpike at Bedford and other points west of Breezewood will be able to travel on the turnpike.
The PTC urges motorists using the alternative route to be alert for possible changing travel conditions along alternate routes; travel at a speed suitable for prevailing roadway and weather conditions.