By the Press Enterprise staff 

CENTRALIA — Commuters who use Route 61 between Centralia and Ashland will encounter detours around Centralia after PennDOT shut down a section of the highway between the four-point intersection at Routes 42 and 61 and the intersection of Routes 61 and 54 in Ashland.

A hole about a foot wide opened up and was discovered Thursday evening along Route 61 — also known as Byrnsville Road — in the northbound lane near the yellow center lines.

The hole formed on the straightaway north of  where Route 61 turns into a two-lane highway heading in and out of Ashland. 

A crew of PennDOT workers arrived around 8 p.m. to replace cones blocking the road with more prominent “Road Closed” signs. 

While the hole appeared small, a PennDOT worker described it as “cone-shaped” and much wider deeper below the road surface.

The road opened up in the area of a stormwater runoff pipe crossing below the road, and did not appear to be mine-fire related. 

One man who drove up to the four-point intersection at Routes 54 and 61 was angered to discover that section of Route 61 shut down, lamenting that he had just driven 100 miles. 

He skidded out and headed west on Route 61 toward Mount Carmel. 

Traffic headed east was routed to Big Mine Road.