HADLEY — A plan that will reconstruct and widen Route 9 east from Middle Street to South Maple Street, by adding a dedicated third lane for vehicles making left turns and new bicycle lanes and sidewalks, will be presented at a public hearing next week.
The hearing, which comes at the 25-percent design stage, takes place at Hopkins Academy June 25 from 6 to 8:30 p.m.
According to information provided by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, the existing 2 ¼-mile stretch, which is two-way traffic in most sections, will have several improvements completed when the project begins sometime in 2022. These include adding a new center lane for turns, a separate shared-use path on both sides, a bicycle lane in both directions and new 5-foot sidewalks on both sides.
The travel lanes will be at least 11-feet wide, with 2-foot shoulders, and the center lane for turns will be 13-feet wide.
During the project, there will be full-depth pavement reconstruction of the road and hot mix asphalt overlay. There are also plans to upgrade all bus stops along the corridor.
Patrick Marvin, spokesman for MassDOT, said the Route 9 project is currently expected to be advertised for construction bids in late 2021, meaning it should commence after the state completes work on a new roundabout for Exit 19 off Interstate 91 at Damon Road in Northampton.
“The Northampton roundabout project has a completion date of summer 2021, meaning there should be no overlap,” Marvin said.
The roundabout project work began earlier this year with the removal of trees and other vegetation alongside the current exit and on-ramps at Exit 19 and has continued this week with construction at the edge of Bridge Street below the Interstate 91 overpass.
As part of the Route 9 corridor project, a study is being done on transit needs and alternatives for the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority’s B43 bus route. One concept is to have a “rapid bus” that would remove several existing stops, and move others, and shave off 13 minutes of a ride between Amherst and Northampton that currently averages almost 49 minutes.
Transit Signal Priority technology may be used to minimize delays at signalized intersections, including “extended green” and “early green” phasing for transit vehicles, such as buses.
The improvements to Route 9 are coming as the result of recommendations put forth by the Connecticut River Crossing Transportation Study, which was completed in 2004.
More information is available at https://www.mass.gov/route-9-corridor-improvement-project.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
