State transportation officials yesterday presented their case for a spring closure of Route 248 to area legislators, businessmen and concerned residents, telling them the planned closing is an “absolute must.”

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation plans to close the route for six weeks to remove tons of boulders and loose rock atop the cantilever on the Blue Mountain.

The closure plan has come under heavy fire, but PennDOT Chief Engineer P. Thomas Barilar said safety takes precedent in this matter, noting rock formations that have eroding shale below them threaten to fall to the surface. Some of the rock, he said, is estimated to weigh between 700 and 1,000 tons.