NEW SCOTLAND — A portion of Krumkill Road will be closed indefinitely on Nov. 12, according to Highway Superintendent Darrell Duncan.

Instability in the ground beneath the road, which has been a problem for years, was exacerbated by tropical storms Irene and Lee at the end of the summer.  After the stormwater eroded the ground, the road was cut to one lane near the Normans Kill.

The town is currently paying $6,250 a month for temporary traffic lights so that drivers can negotiate the one-way section of road.  It would cost two-and-a-half times that much for lights that would be hardwired to weather the winter.  The lights in use now run on batteries that wouldn’t function in the cold, Duncan said.

Ultimately, he said, the town plans to move roughly 1,000 feet of roadway to the south.  Right now, it is waiting to negotiate with the landowner who has the property adjacent to Krumkill Road.  It is also waiting for engineering and soil studies, Duncan said.  He was unable to estimate how long the project would take and how much it might cost.

Earlier this year, in June, the town closed the road for less than a week to fix its surface after the fill beneath it slid, creating a scarp, or a break in the roadway.

Krumkill Road runs from New Scotland, starting just outside of the village of Voorheesville, through Bethlehem, and in to Albany where it ends at Route 85.

While the road is closed, Duncan said, there will be detours on Johnson Road and Route 85.  “They’re quite substantial,” he said.