WORCESTER COUNTY, Mass. - A major construction project is making its way to the Mass Pike this summer, and will impact drivers coming from both the east and west.

"This is the largest and most disruptive project that MassDOT will be undertaking this summer," said MassDOT Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver. 

What You Need To Know

  • Starting this Friday, traffic will be cut down almost a third for the next eight weekends
  • Construction will go from Friday night into Monday morning
  • MassDOT is looking to upgrade infrastructure which is more than 60 years old
  • Commutes Monday through Friday are not expected to be impacted

The state will be replacing eight bridges on the Mass Pike in both Westborough and Southborough this summer. For drivers, it comes with a warning.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Gulliver said, "Starting at 7 p.m. on Friday night, we will deploy a movable zipper barrier that will combine eastbound and westbound flow of the turnpike into a single barrel of the roadway effectively cutting the capacity of the turnpike in both directions down by a third."

Construction will run from Friday nights into Monday mornings for a total of eight weeks. MassDOT says they're ultimate goal is replacing 60-plus year-old infrastructure which serves more than 100,000 drivers a day.

"I drive into Boston regularly so it kind of stinks, but at least it's on the weekends," said one driver who was getting gas at the Westborough Plaza.

The project starts with the bridge over Woodland Road in Southborough. About three miles worth of highway will be narrowed down as a result. MassDOT is urging drivers to plan ahead.

"We are urging the public to stay away from the project area on both local roadways and on the turnpike this weekend and other weekends this summer," Gulliver said. "If you do need to travel in this area, please plan ahead and expect congestion and delays."

MassDOT says for the next eight weeks, they expect to be opening up the road to full capacity on Monday mornings around 5 a.m.. They don't expect it to have any impact on the Monday morning commute.