​Amherst Road In Merrimack Closed Due To Sinkhole

MERRIMACK, NH — Amherst Road will be closed to traffic for the foreseeable future due to a sinkhole forming in the eastbound travel lane, according to police. The road closure is located on Amherst Road between Turkey Hill Road and Executive Park Drive. A map of the closure along with detour routes can be found at merrimacknh.gov.

The closure is expected to last three to four four weeks while the existing failed culvert is replaced, according to Lt. Brian Levesque of the Merrimack Police Department. The full closure of the road will be phased in to ease the traffic congestion:

• The eastbound lane will be closed – detour signs will be placed at Meetinghouse Road and Naticook Road but westbound traffic will be able to travel through the work area through Friday.
• Saturday morning (June 24) at 7 a.m. the westbound lane will be closed leaving the area fully closed to all traffic until repairs are complete.

Merrimack officers will be placed in strategic locations to assist motorists through the partial closure. The contractor will be mobilizing to the site early next week to begin the work.

The existing culvert is a corrugated metal pipe located 20 feet below Amherst Road that carries Naticook Brook, he noted. Corrosion of the culvert combined with the heavy rains this spring caused material from the road bed erode, causing the sinkhole.

Questions can be referred to the Public Works Department at 603-424-5137.