SCHUYLKILL HAVEN - Be prepared to spend more time and gasoline driving on Route 61 through the borough.
Additional traffic measures have - and will - occur on the highway as part of a widening project that will add two lanes in a bid to ultimately ease traffic congestion.
But until the more than $8 million project is completed - that's projected in December 2015 - motorists must deal with changes that have tended to tie up traffic and make for slow going.
Many aren't happy about it.
The $8,646,692 project was awarded to Kinsley Construction, York County, on Nov. 27, 2013. The project started in March and has been progressing.
On Route 61 northbound, there is now just one lane from near Manheim Road at the Sheetz station to Route 183. The right lane is blocked as vertical panels were placed there Thursday.
Orange cones have also been placed near Dock Street and Route 61.
Hamlet Siljkovic, 46, of Pottsville, didn't mince words Thursday when he talked about the move to narrow the road to one lane, calling it "absurd."
"They're absolutely crazy," he said. "Whoever authorized that should be fired."
Sean Brown, a State Department of Transportation spokesman, said Friday PennDOT is "trying to maintain as much traffic as possible."
The area under construction on Route 61 has an average daily traffic volume of 28,428 vehicles, according to PennDOT statistics.
Brown said one lane will only be available going northbound "because we need the traffic controlled for the construction."
Other changes will also take place including prohibiting a left turn from Route 61 north onto Dock Street, which may begin this week, depending on weather.
Too much traffic would be stopped if left turns are permitted, Brown said.
A small culvert will be removed along the right hand side of Route 61 south as part of the construction.
"It's pretty old," Brown said.
Concrete barriers also are part of the project. Utilities and sidewalks will have to be moved.
According to a PennDOT press release, access to businesses and residences will be maintained during the project.
The new traffic patterns have some people upset.
"It's a mess. It's a lot of traffic," a Sheetz employee who did not want to give his name said Thursday.
Wayne Herbal, 50, of Pottsville, said the traffic flow is problematic, be he also said the widening project will be good when it is done.
"It's got to be done. It's a long time coming. It's going to (be bad) till it's done," Herbal said.
Jim Brossman, 65, of Schuylkill Haven, said that due to the traffic tie-ups, he tries to avoid the area and uses alternate routes.
Jay Hanley, 53, of Barnesville, said isn't happy with the extra time it takes for him to get somewhere. Drivers, he said, are "loosing life as we know it. Loosing time."
Driving on Route 61 in the borough on Wednesday was a test in patience, he said.
"Haven was gridlocked. It was like being in Philadelphia or a major metropolitan area," Hanley said.
With the delay resulting from construction, Hanley said he thinks businesses will suffer because drivers will be too frustrated and not go.
"People are going to be disgusted waiting in line," he said.
However, Matt Whalen, store manager of the AutoZone, Route 61 in the borough, said he has not noticed a decrease in customers.
He admitted that drivers seem to wait longer in traffic.
Carl Berger, the Schuylkill Haven economic development director, said the inconvenience caused by the construction will have a positive benefit on the borough.
He said he has seen more traffic on borough streets, something that is a result of motorists finding alternate routes to their destinations.
"It could have an economic benefit because they (motorists) can see our shops," Berger said, adding that all things take time.
"You have to be patient. It is going to be an improvement," Berger said about the project.