During the weekend of Nov. 4-6, Highland Ave. over Route I-95 will be closed to all traffic in order to allow for the demolition of the old bridge crossing over the interstate.

Traffic on I-95 will be detoured over the on-off ramps at Highland, which is why Highland has to be closed on this one weekend only:
 

• I-95 Northbound detour: Friday 8 p.m. to Saturday 3 p.m.
• I-95 Southbound detour: Saturday 6 p.m.-3 p.m. Sunday.

In the event of inclement weather, the work will happen on the following weekend. There will be detour signs and police details to assist traffic.

More details and proposed detours can be found here.

While this will certainly be an inconvenience for many, this is necessary work that will a tremendous upside for businesses and residents.

The Chamber urges you to share this information with your customers and employees. We also request that you:

• Stress that this closure is ONLY happening from 8 p.m. Friday. Nov. 4 until 5 a.m. on Monday morning. It will not impact the workday traffic or commerce. Next weekend, that’s all!
• I-95 will never be complexly shut down. Expect delays but not Armageddon.
• While it will not be possible to travel from Newton to Needham and vice versa along Highland that weekend, businesses on both sides of the I-95 will be open and would love to see you. This will be an especially great weekend to shop locally.
• While it’s unfortunate this this work is being done at the same time that the Elliot St/Central Ave. Bridge is closed, the timing is unavoidable. The Elliot/Central bridge was an emergency closing because it was failing. The work on Highland must be done now before the winter weather sets in.
• The good news is that relief is on the way. The Elliot/Central bridge work is on schedule and will reopen in mid-December.
• As scary as this may seem, it isn’t possibly as scary as what could happen a few days later on Election Day.

We will get through this! And it will be worth it!