READ THIS ...Possible major Route 81 northbound for Carlisle

Boy! Big a$$ed mess here. I-81S is open to I-83S towards Mechanicsburg. The PA Turnpike to the Hbg/West exit is another alternative. I too will keep an eye on the situation. It could be months until repairs are made depending on the inspection of  the damage.

http://www.abc27.com/video?cli...0&autostart=true

~WB

For the most part, those coming down from the NORTH on 81 will possibly be affected.

The Alt. Route would be 81S>83S>581W>SR15S>to the Hotel. Expect a slow go through here.

Tip: Immediately after crossing the Susquehanna River Bridge on 83S, you continue STRAIGHT onto 581W. 83S exits off to the right at this point.

Those coming from the South will be unaffected except for congestion when exiting 81N onto 581E to 15S

Thanks for posting this Alan and Bill! I saw a road marquee today and caught PA and I-81 out of the corner of my eye. The sign was on I-84 in Newburgh, about a hal-hour from the PA border.

"Rufus", my GPS pilot, is already re-programmed.

Keep us informed of any changes, but I'll prob'ly take Bill's alternate route.

gn

Think I found a better route around the mess. So fire up Google maps and check them out.

Take exit 80 from 81S. turn right.....

Follow straight past Hollywood Casino to stop sign at Rt443....

Left onto 443W to Harrisburg. Follow about 12+ miles(right past my casa) to jump on 322E....

Follow 322E about a mile and rejoin 81S at the river bridge.

You will see the burned out ramps to your left.

No traffic Lights...nice road and scenery. Danny, Cory and Dr. Bob liked this ride one night. Probably quicker than using the 83S detour especially at rush hour!

You could also Exit at 77 and take 39W to 322E and 81S at the river. There are a bunch of red lights and more traffic this way, though. I met Gordon at a truckstop here in years past.

They are waiving Turnpike tolls between the Carlisle and Hbg. East exits. So we may get free rides to the showfield and back for those that want to go that route.

**Edit** The Turnpike toll waiving WON'T apply to us! Dang!

~WB

Thanks, Bill - That's yeoman service for sure!  I'll check this out tonight and re-re-Program my GPS, Rufus.

Thanks!!

gn

They just announced on the news that they are going to try to get I-81 lanes open "Early Next Week" So Stay tuned!

~WB

The Carlisle folks just sent this out:

I-81, 22/322 TRAFFIC ADVISORY
On Thursday morning an incident that occurred in Harrisburg has forced the closure of I-81 in and around the 22/322 interchange. This is and will have a major impact on traffic not only in the Harrisburg area but on roads that many will use as detours. Though the scene is miles from Carlisle, depending on where you are coming from, you may be affected. With that said, please pay close attention to the following detour information. 1) The PA Turnpike is offering FREE travel access on the PA Turnpike between the Harrisburg East interchange and the Carlisle interchange. 2) GO HERE for alternate routes and give yourself extra drive time as you come to our fun-filled weekend.

Hi ECB.  Since the "incident" is north of Carlisle, am I correct in assuming that the Southeast caravan will not be affected on our journey to the motel in Mechanicsburg?  Also, will there be route alterations on any of our group runs during the event? 

Hoss

Those coming from the south will not be affected except for some possible congestion on 81 where 581E branches off.

RT 81 "may" be back in service by Thursday, as a back up route .....

 Rt 81 to Rt 11 south in Carlisle and onto the Pa. Tpk heading east for 10 miles to exit 236 which is the exit where the hotel is.

Saturday Afternoon May 11 Update

I-81 Accident Update

As of Saturday, May 11, I-81 Southbound is still closed before the 22/322 interchange.

PennDOT's alert as of Saturday afternoon, May 11, says I-81 will be closed until Monday morning. The closure runs from Exit 59 (PA-581) west of Harrisburg to Exit 70 (I-83) east of Harrisburg.

Under normal conditions, the I-83 to PA-581 detour adds only 8 minutes to the trip.

At 1:00 Saturday afternoon, PennDOT's traffic camera shows delays for a couple miles leading into the 81/83 interchange, but no delays at the interchange itself. There is some traffic at 83/581.

Here are the directions:

I-81 Exit 70 on the left to I-83 S/US-322 E.
Proceed 8.3 miles, to PA-581 West
Proceed 7.3 miles to Exit 1B to merge onto I-81 South.

Here is the traffic camera site (zoom in to the Harrisburg area):

http://www.511pa.com/Traffic.aspx?ShowCameras=true

Later Saturday afternoon....PennDOT says I-81 now closed between exits 59 and 70 until Tuesday May 14 "...at the earliest."

For all of you coming in from the Northeast (New England and New Jersey via I-78), at least with my GPS, when I plug in the hotel address it has me exiting I-81 onto I-83 south to 581 west over to rt 15 and down to the hotel exit.  Easy-Peasy, except that the truck traffic might be a little heavier than normal due to the detour.

At least there won't be any stoplights going this way.

gn

That is the way we went last year(Peter and I).I printed out the two WB detours. With my Droid/GPS with Google maps, it will let me see what the traffic looks like on the multiple detours in real time. I'm sure it will be fine either way.

Gordon...sounds like your GPS is right.

The directions I noted above get you back on 81 to continue to the show grounds.

Late Sunday morning, all the traffic cameras show free flowing traffic. And a pretty fair portion of the damaged overpass is already down.

5/13/13 9pm

NOW HEAR THIS***I-81 is being opened as I type this.****

THAT IS ALL!

~WB

Oh Yeah thank you road contractor crews !   I can sleep an extra 2.5 hours before I head out to NJ tomorrow !

You guys are lucky this was not part of Boston's "BIG DIG".  We would still be watching them slowly removing the damaged girders two years from now......

I doubt anyone has to get off 81 onto 22/322, but just in case...here's teh full notice from PennDOT:

Interstate 81 is now OPEN between Exits 59 and 70. The Ramp from I-81 Northbound to US 22/322 West remains CLOSED. The Detour is I-81 North to Exit 72-B, Linglestown/Paxtonia, to I-81 South to Exit 67-B, to US 22/322 West. There is also a Lane Restriction on US 22/322 in BOTH directions at I-81. Traffic will be restricted to ONE LANE each direction. Motorist are urged to use caution in the area.

Paul would be correct unless you are going to State College about an hour up the road!