The southbound lanes of the New York State Thruway in South Nyack, including the Mario Cuomo Bridge, will be closed for a minimum of 16 hours, beginning at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.

The closure is to facilitate emergency repairs on the South Broadway overpass, which was damaged by a tractor-trailer collision last Thursday.

Here's what you need to know about what's going to happen on the roads:

Motorists should anticipate prolonged delays and consider seeking alternative routes.

So what should drivers do? The best bets will be the George Washington Bridge, the Bear Mountain, or the Newburgh-Beacon. Thruway officials say this is the first time the southbound side of the bridge has been shut down for this length of time since it was built.

News 12 spoke with a business on the Westchester side of the bridge who said they are concerned. They are not worried much about their business dipping tomorrow, but about their employees who commute to work to Rockland.

Linda Ferone, general manager of the Sleepy Hollow Hotel, said the re-route is going to be tough on their employees.

"One of our agents at the front desk already mentioned that they're going to have to go up to the Bear Mountain Bridge, come over the Bear Mountain Bridge and then down the Teconic to the Sawmill to get to work. It's going to be very challenging for her and a lot of people in the area," Ferone said.

"Well for tomorrow, it's going to stink because going through the Bear Mountain, it's going to be a nightmare and I'm not looking forward to it at all, but we will see what happens," said hotel employee Jacqueline Hoyt.

Ferone said she and her staff are going to do everything possible to make this easier on their employees and guests.

While most of the people who said this closure will impact them, they also understand that this inconvenience needs to happen to keep people safe.

The closure will also impact several Hudson Link bus routes that travel over the bridge.

South Nyack will be the last eastbound stop for several buses that include the H07X, H07, H05, H03 and H01.

Service will remain the same on the Rockland County side.

Shuttle bus service will not be running all day Saturday.

Check ridehudsonlink.com for the latest updates.

Some drivers who travel between Westchester and Rockland counties said they are planning ahead amid this Thruway closure.

"I'm going to probably leave work early in order to make it or will be stuck here. Yeah, we can always try for the G, for the George Washington but I'm sure it's going to be terrible there too. Everyone's going to be going that way. Last week when it happened here, 59 was backed up for hours and hours and hours," said Dylan Keane, of Nyack.