New Bedford Braces for Long-Term Disruption of I-195 Travel

If you think morning and afternoon rush hour traffic on Interstate 195 through New Bedford is a nightmare now, wait a minute. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is about to embark on the mother of all construction projects here in our backyard.

For commuters, Cape Cod-bound tourists and anyone just looking to get from Dartmouth to Fairhaven or from the North End of New Bedford to the South End, these might be perceived as the good old days.

MassDOT expects shovels in the ground this summer for a $400 million I-195/Route 18 rehabilitation project that involves replacing the I-195 viaduct at the Route 18 interchange.

The project includes replacing three highway bridges and the ramp system that connects the highways.

If you think this sounds like a long and involved project, it is. MassDOT expects construction to wrap up in the fall of 2030.

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There are not many options for crossing the Acushnet River. One is the narrow and slow-moving Coggeshall Street Bridge. The other is Route 6 and the New Bedford-Fairhaven Bridge, which opens hourly to allow marine traffic to pass through.

Much of the reconstruction work is expected to be performed during daylight hours but MassDOT promises to keep I-195 traffic moving, albeit slowly for most of the time.

Construction of I-195 from Westport to the New Bedford-Fairhaven border lasted from 1963 to 1965. I was just a wee lad then. It wasn't until 1968 that work to extend the highway from Fairhaven to Wareham began.

The extension, which ends at I-495, was finished in 1974.

The next five years may be grueling and brutal, but it will be worth it.