Officials expect the detours to be in place for about 6 weeks.
This area of 116 in Amherst near Atkins Farms will be closed to traffic for about six weeks while crews work on construction.AMHERST — Beginning next Thursday, the westerly end of Bay Road and about 400 feet of the adjoining sections of Route 116 in both directors will be closed while crews tackle the last of the major work on the Atkins Corner project.
State officials have put detours in place, but Atkins Farm Country Market will remain open, Town Engineer Jason O. Skeels said.
Motorist should expect delays.
Skeels said work is expected to be finished in about six weeks, and the two roundabouts in the area should be operational after that. He said the detours will remain even when crews are not working because of the nature of the work they are doing. Work on the project, which took more than a decade of planning, began in March 2011.
The redesign is intended to improve safety and traffic flow with the roundabouts at Route 116 and West Bay Road and at Route 116 and Bay Road. The road will be slightly wider.
The design also includes a multi-use bicycle lane. The Ludlow-based Baltazar Contractors were awarded the contract for the $6 million project in January 2011. State officials wanted to wait until area colleges finished the spring semester before embarking on the work.
Motorists traveling Route 116 north from Granby will be detoured from West Bay Road to South Maple Street in Hadley, then to Moody Bridge Road-West Pomeroy Lane, rejoining Route 116 north. For those traveling south on Route 116, the detour will be the same but in reverse, beginning on West Pomeroy-Moody Bridge Road, to South Maple, to Bay Road, then West Bay Road to Route 116 south.
Those traveling from Belchertown will be detoured at Southeast Street to Pomeroy Lane, then to West Pomeroy Lane-Moody Bridge Road, to South Maple Street, to Bay Road in Hadley, and to West Bay Road in Amherst.
Those traveling from Hadley will be detoured at South Maple to Moody Bridge-West Pomeroy, to Pomeroy, and to Southeast Street.
Trucks detours will be adjusted slightly.
Police will be posted at busy intersections during peak hours and motorists are asked to obey all signs and officers.