People in Waverley, N.S. are having a hard time getting around as the city replaces the main bridge in and out of the community.

The construction has closed the bridge to all traffic, which is causing long detours for many residents.

The work is expected to last for another six weeks but patience is already wearing thin in the small Halifax community.

“It’s bullshit. They got the road closed off and they can’t even tell us that we can’t even get through to Waverley without going through Sackville,” says driver Matt Trider. “We’re literally five seconds away. Now we’ve got to take a whole half hour and 45 minutes detour to get back. We’re not happy.”

“I don’t know how to go to the highway, so it could have a huge effect,” says driver Barry Coleman. “It could have an extra hour to go back and start back on the highway.”

Crews have built a footbridge to help residents trying to get to a daycare centre and school located on the other side of the bridge, but it doesn’t help people trying to get to work.

“I mean, it’s going to impact a little bit with gas, obviously being so expensive,” says area resident Christian Collin. “Forty minutes a day, over the course of a week, month…it adds up.”

In fall 2011, the city decided the bridge was in bad shape and needed to be replaced. Almost a year later, many residents are wondering why the city waited until now, just one day before the back-to-school rush, to start construction on the replacement bridge.

The city says it’s simply a big job.

“Preliminary work involved federal and provincial permits and approvals in terms of weather restrictions and any environmental considerations,” says city spokesperson Michaelyn Thompson. “There were power lines and a water line that needed to be relocated.”

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kayla Hounsell