AMHERST — Reconstruction of a section of University Drive lined with numerous businesses, offices and apartments will begin Monday.
With the building of a new roundabout at the corner of Amity Street and University Drive nearing completion, the project to do full-depth reconstruction of 1,826 feet of the road, extending to the CVS Pharmacy and at a cost of $1.22 million, is getting underway.
The project was originally on the town’s 2025 work schedule, but was delayed so the roundabout work would be finished, even though that part of University Drive scores very poorly based on the town’s Pavement Condition Index.
On Monday, Ludlow Construction will begin lowering castings in the road. Then the following day, and until the end of the week, Peckham Paving will be reclaiming and finish grading the existing asphalt roadway surface.
During construction, running daily from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., vehicles will only be allowed to travel north, from Route 9, while those vehicles coming south from the University of Massachusetts campus will be detoured via Blue Hills Road to Northampton Road.
The contractor schedule is weather dependent and would be shifted if rain is forecast.
In addition to many stores and restaurants along the road, the section of road being rehabilitated includes the Center for Extended Care, the Slobody Building that is the temporary location of the Jones Library and the U.S. post office.
The work is part of a Department of Public Works plan to resurface 19 roads totaling 7.3 miles, at a cost of $4.84 million.
