NEVILLE ISLAND, Pa. — Drivers are apparently growing impatient with the detours surrounding the Neville Island Bridge work, with community members reporting concerning behavior.
“Yeah people are just going crazy, they’re flying through,” one Coraopolis woman told us.
Over this past weekend, I-79 was entirely shut down over the bridge in the northbound direction.
Police from various departments assisted with traffic flow, and observations from Ohio Township officers prompted the following warning on Facebook:
“As a reminder, when driving, do NOT assume a person is guaranteed to stop simply because they SHOULD stop at a red light or stop sign. Our officers are seeing motorists assuming cross traffic is going to stop because they should but that has not been the case.”
Community members we spoke with said they’ve witnessed similar situations along the detour route.
The Ohio Township Police Department post went on to say, “Drivers have become more inattentive than ever, DUI’s are becoming more and more drug related as opposed to alcohol based, occur at all hours of the day, and often involve prescribed drugs not just illegal ones. We often respond to crashes where drivers have had diabetic emergencies behind the wheel, seizures, heart attacks, etc.”
According to PennDOT, there will be two additional I-79 northbound weekend closures this year, and then four in the southbound direction in 2022. The project is expected to wrap up in 2023.
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