There will be major traffic on the Massachusetts Turnpike this weekend as crews begin demolishing a train tunnel near the interchange between Route 128 and Interstate 90 near the Newton-Weston line.
If you drive along the Pike, you've probably seen the signs warning you to expect long delays this weekend and to avoid driving on I-90 if you can.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation says they are not overselling this — there will be significant, potentially hours-long delays due to work that's part of the $400 million bridge replacement project.
Lane closures and significant delays are anticipated this weekend as crews work on the interchange between Massachusetts Turnpike and Interstate 95.
"This is going to be one of the most impactful projects of the year," MassDOT highway administrator Jonathan Gulliver said in an interview with NBC10 Boston Friday morning. "It's a really intense period of construction but it's short pain and we'll be done for the year. This will be the big one this year."
Starting tonight at 9 p.m. through 5 a.m. Monday, westbound lanes of the Pike from Newton to Weston will be shut down, with all westbound traffic diverted to the eastbound side. That means traffic on the eastbound side will be divided, with each direction down to just one lane.
This stretch of I-90 typically sees about 100,000 cars a day — even on the weekends.
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Crews are set to begin demolishing a train tunnel near the interchange between Route 128 and Interstate 90 near the Newton-Weston line.
MassDOT says they really need to cut that traffic in half to avoid significant backups.
“If we don't get that 50 percent, you could see those delays expand quite a bit, our modeling has indicated with 100% of normal traffic, you could see delays as much as 2-3 hours coming through this area,” Gulliver said.
The biggest piece of advice from Gulliver is to leave early, leave yourself a lot of extra time.
If you can, stay home. If you do have to go somewhere impacted by this, look for a detour.
MassDOT Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver spoke with NBC10 Boston Friday morning about this weekend's bridge work that will cause major traffic on the Mass. Pike, as well as residual traffic other places like Route 128 and local roadways. Follow NBC10 Boston:https://instagram.com/nbc10bostonhttps://tiktok.com/@nbc10bostonhttps://facebook.com/NBC10Bostonhttps://twitter.com/NBC10Bostonhttps://bsky.app/profile/nbcboston.com
"If you don't need to be coming through this area, it's not a good place to be taking a discretionary trip this weekend, so if you want to come into the city, look for a detour," Gulliver said.
"It is going to be tough going. We know this is a roadway that takes a lot of traffic regardless of the day, regardless if it's a weekday or weekend ... we know people are going to be inconvenienced," Gulliver added. "That's why we're taking this approach. This is going to get us in and out of here as quickly as possible versus doing this the traditional way which means that we would have literally a couple of years worth of construction to replace that bridge."
The commuter rail will have delays and detours, too.
“Please be aware that even with our best efforts, including bus shuttles and detours, commute times in the affected areas will likely be longer, so we ask for your patience and that you plan ahead for slower commute times,” said Michael Muller, the MBTA Commuter Rail Executive Director.
Commuters are being warned to prepare for traffic impacts during a construction project on the Massachusetts Turnpike.
The bridge replacement is part of the larger, $230 million I-90/I-95 Interchange project, which involves rehabilitating eight bridges and replacing five of them. The work involves demolishing the existing bridge, then bringing in pre-fabricated bridge units and installing them, all before the morning rush on Monday.
This is just the first of two weekends over the next month where we’ll have these closures. All but one lane will be closed in both directions between exits 123 and 125 starting at 9 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m. on Monday from June 20-23.
Overall, this work will make this interchange more modernized, smoothing out the geometry of the roadway.
"It will make for a smoother ride into the future, and a much safer ride," Gulliver explained. "This is a necessary upgrade...this is going to ensure long-term there are no safety issues and no surprise closures because we have to do some emergency repairs."