Construction Workers Still Tearing Down Building by I-81

Construction workers are still tearing down the fallen building along Interstate 81, two months after debris from the building fell onto the highway.

The Department of Transportation reopened the northbound section of the highway last month, but large pieces of cement from the building still need to be removed by construction workers.

At lunchtime on Wednesday, construction workers used an excavator to break up cement blocks and remove them from the work site on N. State St. The supervisor says the project should be finished within the next few days.

The fallen building is fenced off, with drivers from the northbound and southbound lanes being detoured to N. Salina St.

Alexander Gadson, who lives only a block away from the work site on N. State St., says the project is taking too long to finish.

"It's a big inconvenience for everyone living near the building," he said. "They're spending all this money, and it's taking forever."

Another construction crew is working on replacing the Butternut Street bridge, only a few blocks away from the fallen building. With the two construction projects going on at the same time, Gadson says it's impossible to drive down N. State St.

"I can't cross any of the bridges," he said. "And it's difficult to access the on-ramp to I-81."