AMHERST — A $5.9 million project to rebuild Northampton Road between Amherst center and University Drive is getting underway.
The state Department of Transportation project on a section of Route 9 that passes by a portion of the Amherst College campus, including its athletic fields, is in the early stages of work, with the reconstruction to be complete by April 2024, said Kristen Pennucci, spokeswoman for the state agency.
Pennucci said the initial work this fall will mostly involve installing construction signs and erosion controls, and performing tree work. Next spring, the work will focus on a new drainage system for the road.
In a memo to the Town Council, Town Manager Paul Bockelman describes the project as also replacing town utilities, relocating utility poles and installing a multi-use path.
“This project will be disruptive to vehicular traffic and will go on for a long time,” Bockelman wrote.
Pennucci said the project will eventually involve the excavation, milling and paving of the road, adding pedestrian ramps and new granite curbing, and putting in new traffic signals, signs and pavement markings.
