BREEZEWOOD — Officials have postponed plans to close an 86-mile stretch of the Pennsylvania Turnpike because workers need more time to prepare to retrieve a tractor-trailer that went over an embankment during the weekend’s snow storm.

Instead of closing today, the westbound lanes will close for about three hours starting about 9 a.m. Thursday from Breezewood to New Stanton. Traffic will be detoured onto Interstates 70 and 68 to U.S. Route 119, where vehicles can re-enter the toll road at New Stanton.

Turnpike officials say the more than 100-mile detour is necessary because of the volume of traffic that is being rerouted.

The same eastbound stretch of turnpike had to be closed Sunday so crews could remove more than 500 snowbound vehicles from the westbound lanes.