Route 40 to remain closed ‘indefinitely’ following landslide
Route 40 will remain closed near the Yough Lake Bridge through at least the end of the week as engineers begin reviewing how to stabilize a nearby hillside following Thursday night’s landslide that covered the highway.
Crews returned to the site of the landslide in Henry Clay Township just west of the bridge and climbed to the top of the hill Monday to begin studying how to prevent additional movement, state Department of Transportation spokesman Jay Ofsanik said.
While Ofsanik said PennDOT cannot give an official timeline on when Route 40 may be reopened, he said the closure could be lengthy depending on the amount of work that will be needed to stabilize the hillside.
“Folks are up there now trying to determine the extent of it. … They will need to do a lot of work to stabilize the hillside,” Ofsanik said.
Ofsanik said PennDOT is working now to secure “emergency funding” for repairs and will need to hire a contractor to perform the work. While there’s no time estimate, the road will be closed “indefinitely” until they get a clearer picture on the scope of the work.
“It is going to take a while to get the road open,” Ofsanik said. “We’ll be updating as we go.”
The hillside began shifting just before 9 p.m. Thursday and eventually covered both lanes of the road with trees, rocks and dirt. PennDOT immediately put up barricades around the landslide and posted a detour that takes traffic onto Route 281 into Confluence and Route 523 back onto Route 40 near Addison. Motorists are still permitted to access local roads in the area, and nearby boat launches to Yough Lake remain open to the public.