Exit 23 off I-91 in Northampton to close overnights for road work

NORTHAMPTON — Exit 23 on Interstate 91, which drops vehicles off the highway onto Route 5, will be closed overnights beginning Sunday to accommodate ongoing construction.

Beginning at 7 p.m. daily, the exit ramp will be closed, reopening the following morning around 5:30.

The closure is to accommodate the final aspects of the $56 million project, begun in summer 2021, to replace both the northbound and then the southbound bridges over both Route 5/ Mount Tom Road and Hockanum Road, as well as to build a new 5-foot wide sidewalk that is extending along Mount Tom Road to Atwood Drive, the complex of medical and office building. The sidewalk previously ended just south of Spare Time Northampton, 525 Pleasant St. at the Connecticut River levee.

When roadwork is complete, new bicycle lanes will also be added in both directions on Route 5.

The bridges had dated to the interstate’s construction in 1865. During the work, there has been regular daytime closing of one lane, leading to periodic backups on the highway, though a temporary bridge had been positioned in the median to carry two lanes of traffic as each original bridge was demolished and then rebuilt.

Gomes Construction Co. of Ludlow has been handling the project, funded through the Transportation Improvement Program for the Pioneer Valley Metropolitan Planning Commission.