Confusion and close calls to start off the closure of a popular Monroe County intersection.
It’s the official end to left hand turns at Shafers Schoolhouse Road and four lane Route 209 in Stroud Township.
And the intersection will be closed for about a year as crews reconfigure the roadway.
But we found a lot of drivers are having a hard time believing the road closure signs.
Meals America Delivery Driver Damir Walker says, "I’m up here every week doing deliveries and usually I can come right through here and do this but it obviously stopped me today."
Walker had a lot of questions as he discovered this morning he couldn’t use Shafers Schoolhouse Road to get to four lane Route 209. And he wasn’t the only vehicle turning around.
Stroud Township Resident Diane Wilson says, "I said oh no. Because I mean the sign has been up there before and it was still open so I don’t know why today?"
Today the traffic lights are shut off and the intersection is blocked. But that also didn’t stop vehicles on Route 209 trying to turn onto Shafers Schoolhouse Road either. Many put their blinkers on and slowed down seemingly not understanding the signs. We spotted crews fixing the caution cones after some drivers refused to use the detour.
Wilson says, "I have to go all the way down and back around that’s all so it’s a long way around."
The closure is expected to be in place for about a year as the intersection is reconfigured to only allow for right hand turns. We’re told the improvements are needed for safety.
Better Homes and Gardens Wilkens and Associates CEO Thomas Wilkins says, "I’m a local and I know that there have been a lot of accidents there. I have used that since I was 16 so it was kind of a both ways for me to look at it but we did not fight it."
Wilkins is in the middle of all the action with his business right off the highway. But he made sure his employees weren’t part of the confusion.
Wilkins says, "They’ve been prepared for it. We got the exit names and such to use either coming from the Lehigh Valley or from Interstate 80 so they already have those directions."
The Shafers Schoolhouse Road and Route 209 intersection will be completely closed until about next summer. And you cannot move signs or drive around them.