HADLEY — The multi-million-dollar Route 9 reconstruction project will break ground in May, just in time for some of the heaviest traffic weekends of the year, including commencements, Mother’s Day and Memorial Day.
This phase of the project, town officials confirmed during a Selectboard meeting recently, will widen Russell Street (Route 9) from Whalley Street to Middle Street.
The town is expected to pay about $260,000 of the project’s total cost of about $3 million, said Town Administrator David G. Nixon, which involves the state’s widening of the road as well as work on municipal infrastructure, including water lines, beneath the surface.
Selectboard members agreed they will have to watch traffic issues carefully with construction breaking ground next week.
Department of Public Works Director Marlo Warner said that the work that starts next week includes replacing natural gas lines, whereas the road reconstruction will not begin until June.
The end date for the project is not until Sept. 9, 2017.
The state doesn’t plan to shut down the road.
As concerns were raised about traffic and the upcoming college graduation season, Selectboard member Joyce A. Chunglo said she hopes to see the state step up with money for additional police staffing.