Work To Fix Route 9 Flooding In Framingham Now Underway

FRAMINGHAM, MA — Pretty soon, drivers will no longer need a hovercraft to use Route 9 during rainstorms.

Construction began recently to upgrade a flood-prone stretch of Route 9 in Framingham under the Route 126 overpass. Framingham's legislative delegation on Wednesday said that work on new drainage basins along the roadway began in November with the entire project set to be complete by June 2023.

The start of the project comes after state Reps. Maria Robinson and Jack Lewis and Senate Majority Leader Karen Spilka — along with former mayor Yvonne Spicer and former Councilor Robert Case — in 2020 began urging Gov. Charlie Baker to prioritize the project.

"Ensuring MassDOT got to work on this project, which is starting earlier than initially planned at our joint urging, has always been a top priority for the legislative delegation," Robinson said in a news release on Wednesday.

The area under Route 126 has been shut down numerous times in recent years during heavy rainstorms, cutting off a main local east-west route between Boston and Worcester. The flood-prone area is also only about 1,500 feet west of the state police and Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency headquarters along Route 9.

The fix isn't as simple as upgrading the roadway. A MassDOT salt shed on the south side of the Route 126 overpass sits on top of an area where a drain needs to be installed. The agency had to find a new site for the salt shed before work on drains could begin.

"Working collaboratively is the cornerstone of our work as the Framingham legislative delegation, and I am grateful for the larger team effort that made this project possible," Lewis said while also thanking MassDOT.

Work on a drainage basin on the north side of Route 9 already wrapped up in November. Work on the drain on the south side will begin in the first half of the 2022 construction season. The project will also add Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant pedestrian crossings on both sides of the intersection.

"Framingham residents deserve to know that their roads are safe," Spilka said in a news release. "Whether for drivers, pedestrians, or the many people throughout the state who rely on these roads, improved protections against flooding benefit everyone."