Ernie Schnur watched through the front window of Battery Warehouse on Cunningham Street as the line of cars and trucks slowed to a confused stop before turning and taking Route 68 back toward Main Street.

It wasn't the first line of cars Schnur had watched use his parking lot as a turnaround, and it wouldn't be the last. As construction workers closed down the Route 68 bridge at the intersection of West Jefferson Street and West Cunningham Street, business owners watched drivers get accustomed to the temporary traffic changes, and wondered what the closure might mean for their shops.

Schnur said he wasn't concerned about the closure. The bridge being out for several months doesn't upset him as long as customers still can find their way to the Warehouse, which, like its name suggests, sells batteries of all kinds.

“It hasn't done nothing to us yet,” he said. “As long as we can stay open and they (customers) can still get here, we'll be good.”

Monday marked the beginning of a state Department of Transportation project to replace the bridge carrying Route 68 over Sullivan Run in Butler. The $2.2 million project will replace the existing structure with a box culvert. Crews surveyed and began marking the bridge for demolition and construction, in the process transforming businesses at the intersection — home to a collection of eateries, convenience stores and a pharmacy — into life at the end of a cul-de-sac.

Several of the businesses are franchises and managers directed questions to their corporate offices. But the closure is a concern for restaurants like Pizza Hut at 502 W. Cunningham St., which had placed special signs outside proclaiming it is open, and offering coupons proclaiming “The Bridge May Be Closing But We Aren't” to customers.

At the Huddle Lounge, across the street from the pizzeria, bartender Laura Carlson said she didn't see the closure being a problem for the lounge's clientele, who are “pretty regular” and know the city fairly well. Carlson said the business hosts a bike night twice a month on Wednesdays, but she didn't think those events would be disrupted by the closure either.

“We don't really expect too much problem,” Carlson said.

State officials have said the bridge is expected to be closed until mid-October, with a posted detour taking drivers to Hansen Avenue, Pittsburgh Road, Main Street and Jefferson Street.

On the other side of the bridge headed toward Butler Township, Dave Long, the manager of Vocelli's Pizza at 532 W. Cunningham St., said he didn't know what to expect from the closure — though he was sure it would affect the business.

“I'm not exactly sure how yet,” Long said. “I think it'll probably hurt our walk-ins, but maybe help our deliveries.”

Most business owners said they had received word of the bridge closing from the state, but Gerardo Gutierrez of Gutierrez Mexican Restaurant, 536 W. Cunningham St., was shocked and concerned to hear about the length of the closure. Gutierrez said he hadn't heard anything about the project, and said he worried it would grievously affect his restaurant.

“I'm fishing right now,” Gutierrez said, sitting in the restaurant's empty dining room shortly after 2 p.m.

Normally the restaurant would be catering to a modest lunch crowd at that time, he said. Now, Gutierrez said, he knew why the business hadn't materialized.

Gutierrez moved his business into the plaza along Cunningham about a year ago, he said. Before that he had marketed his breakfast and lunch burritos around town — something he is going to consider doing again, until the project is complete. But for now, he said, he was going to worry about paying his rent and what to do if his regular lunch and dinner crowds fall off.

“Right now, it feels like I can't win,” Gutierrez said.