I-80 West in Wharton was closed Friday night for testing after two recent sinkholes.

The New Jersey Department of Transportation stabilized the area where the most recent sinkhole broke in the center eastbound lanes near Exit 34.

After a week of traffic woes, the DOT formally announced the new detour pattern, directing traffic on Route 15 northbound to reduce congestion in Wharton. New Jersey state police will also be on-site Monday along Routes 10, 15 and 46 to control traffic signals.

Not everyone is eager to head back onto I-80 when it reopens.

“It's scary,” said Dimos Paxos, the owner of Townsquare Diner in Wharton. “You think about it, because there's a lot of traffic in the morning on Route 80.”

The first sinkhole in December formed when an abandoned mineshaft collapsed. Mayor Bill Chegwidden says the Avalon Wharton apartments - located across from the repeated sinkholes - are safe.

“You hear a lot of rumors that the building that’s standing here is going to collapse. Well, that's not true,” Chegwidden said. “They went down to the bedrock years ago - I'm going to say 15 years ago - and they put about $2 million worth of material into the ground and built that up, and it was inspected by the Bureau of Mines.”

The traffic has brought potential customers, but over at Townsquare Diner, it’s mostly regulars.

“Too much traffic, people avoid the area altogether,” said Paxos. “We depend on people coming from the other side of Route 80. What are you going to do? Nothing you can do about it.”