WESTBORO, Mass. — UPDATE: MassDOT has announced that all lanes of traffic on I-90 Westbound at the I-495 Interchange have since been reopened
ORIGINAL STORY BELOW:
Emergency crews shut down a busy part of the Massachusetts Turnpike on Friday to avoid the risk of “a major sinkhole,” State Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver said.
The two right lanes on the westbound side of the highway at the Interstate 495 interchange near the Hopkinton-Westboro line are closed back to Route 9 in Framingham after a “construction trench settlement formed” in the roadway, MassDOT officials said.
“There was some settlement going on, in particular, there was the risk of a major sinkhole opening up, something that we obviously didn’t want to put traffic onto, so our team acted quickly, closed the roadway and started emergency repairs,” Gulliver told reporters during a press conference around 1 p.m. Friday.
Around 4:30 p.m. Friday afternoon, in Hopkinton, officials announced that one lane on I-90 westbound at the I-495 interchange has been reopened. The two right lanes remain closed for emergency repair operations.
Aerial video showed multiple workers assessing apparent large cracks in the road and orange traffic drums in place as some cars squeezed by in the far left lane.
An excavator was called in by late morning and could be seen digging up the middle lane.
“Our team acted quickly, closed the roadway, and began emergency repairs,” said Gulliver. “A pothole would have formed, and in this case, a pretty sizable sink hole is what we were worried about.”
A MassDOT traffic camera showed vehicles backed up for miles leading up to the area.
The construction site at the 495/90 interchange is a massive, $440 million project, and “one of the largest construction jobs going on in Massachusetts right now,” Gulliver said.
“It’s a complete reconstruction and reconfiguration of the interchange,” he said.
As part of that work, the contractor “has been installing piles adjacent to the embankment up against the portion of the turnpike that the settlement happened in,” Gulliver said.
“This activity appears to have caused the settlement and the embankment started to have some movement in the soil,” he said.
Crews are bringing in a lot of fill to stabilize the embankment, Gulliver said, he added that he hopes to have most of the work completed by early Friday evening.
“Drivers should expect delays and are encouraged to seek an alternative route,” a MassDOT spokesperson warned earlier Friday. “The duration of the lane closures is currently unknown.”
Gulliver added, “It’s not very common to have it at this extent.”
Frustrated commuters were either rerouted or filtered through one westbound lane that opened up around 5 pm Friday evening.
“I hit the pike this morning, just all a mess,” said one driver from Quincy.
Another added, “We’re trying to get back to Connecticut. But, it’s taking a long time. It’s usually a 2-hour drive. It’ll probably be about 4 and a half.”
Drivers traveling through the affected areas are urged to reduce their speed and use caution.
Stay updated with drive times on the Boston 25 Traffic page.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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