PORTLAND, Pa. — A section of Route 611 closed because of a rockslide won’t reopen for at least six months, PennDOT said Tuesday.
Officials closed the stretch of road between Portland in Northampton County and Delaware Water Gap in Monroe County on Dec. 6 after a rockslide caused by heavy rain.
Traffic has been detoured since then. An average of 3,500 vehicles use the road each day, according to PennDOT.
- Route 611 has been closed north of Portland since Dec. 6
- Heavy rain caused a rockslide for the second time in 2022
- PennDOT estimates reopening the road by the end of August
On Tuesday, transportation officials said the two-lane state road must remain closed because of safety concerns. Workers will have to remove loose rock, secure the roadside rock facing and perhaps install wire mesh and concrete buttresses to secure the rock.
Construction is expected to take six months after design work is completed and permits are obtained, PennDOT said. The agency estimates the work will be completed by the end of August.
"It might not take that long, but that’s the estimate right now," said PennDOT spokesman Ron Young. "This is pretty specialized work.
"There’s a lot of loose rocks in various sizes. To properly scale it – remove the loose rocks – we need to have a professional come in there under contract and break it all off and take it away."
Because that part of the road is in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, permits are required from the National Park Service and the state Department of Conversation and Natural Resources.
Traffic will continue to be detoured on Route 512, Route 33, Route 209 and Interstate 80.
The same area was closed for about two months last spring when rain caused erosion under the road and compromised a retaining wall, Young said.
This work will be different because it occurred on the upside of the lanes of travel, along the southbound side.
Young said some of the fallen rock included pieces as large as a vehicle. He said PennDOT hopes a contractor can begin the emergency work in February.
