Leslie Delapas says dropping off and picking up her son at Winfield Elementary is a headache.

Delapas says, "I live about five minutes away and to get through town is about a half hour."

But it's not nearly as bad as what some people might have to deal with once the Ross Booth Memorial Bridge between Eleanor and Winfield is shut down.

Delapas says, "It stinks. They'll have to go down to Buffalo or Nitro."

Commissioner Joe Haynes says the shutdown is a necessary inconvenience.

"The work needs to be done. We're going to get a sidewalk and we'll fix the overpass over 817 because it's too low right now." says Haynes.

Although commuters will have to find new routes to get to school, Charlie Tribble, the Coordinator of Transportation for Putnam County Schools says school buses will only have to make minor adjustments.

"The vocational kids, it affects them mainly. Evening pickup around lunchtime, they'll probably lose a little lunchtime. The special needs kids may have to get up a little earlier, probably get home a little later." says Tribble.

But Tribble says the inconvenience shouldn't last too long.

"It came down to the fact of do we want to close the bridge 4 1/2 months or stretch it out 2 or 3 years with one lane? We've all felt it was best to just shut it down and get it over with." says Tribble.

"When I'm driving over it I hold my breath. I hope they do a good job so it doesn't have to be done again." says Delapas.

The bridge is down to one lane from 9 pm to 6 am now and will officially close on April 5th. It's scheduled to re-open August 20th.