A long-awaited $12 million resurfacing of 4 miles of Route 3 in Braintree and Weymouth will begin next week. Completion in October of 2015 is expected.

BRAINTREE – South Shore drivers have been hoping for a smoother ride on Route 3 through Braintree and Weymouth for a long time – “since before my arrival (as mayor, in 2009),” Braintree Mayor Joseph Sullivan said.

Now they’re finally going to get it, starting Tuesday night, the day after the Labor Day weekend.



Sullivan and state Department of Transportation Secretary Richard Davey announced the $12.1 million project Monday at Braintree Town Hall, not far from where some of the resurfacing will be done.



The work will cover the northbound and southbound lanes of a two-mile section of the highway between the Union Street rotary in Braintree and the Route 18 exit in Weymouth – four miles of roadway in all. The project includes breakdown lanes and improvements to bridges and guardrails, and is scheduled to be finished in October 2015.



But don’t get stressed out. All the work will be done from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., weeknights and weekends. Davey said no construction will take place during the morning or evening rush hours.



“Daytime lane closures will be very unlikely,” Davey said.



That stretch of Route 3 is one of the most heavily traveled roads in the state, with a total of more than 131,000 vehicles both ways every day. That’s a lot of wear and tear, and it has left the pavement “like Swiss cheese,” as state Rep. Mark Cusack, D-Braintree, put it, with some lanes repaved and others bumpy.



Sullivan said he, Weymouth Mayor Sue Kay and South Shore legislators have been urging the state to fully resurface the highway for years. Sullivan and Davey said the project will be funded from a 10-year, $19 billion transportation bond bill the state Legislature passed in 2013.



The northbound lanes of the Braintree-Weymouth stretch lead to the Route 3-Interstate 93 interchange. Sullivan said that makes the southbound side “the gateway to the South Shore,” with especially heavy weekend traffic.



Between road conditions and patch-up work that closes some lanes, “it makes us the cut-through the capital,” he said. “Hopefully this (new) work will leave the highway better able to handle the traffic.”



Davey said the work will probably be halted around Thanksgiving and resume in April 2015. Sullivan said town police have already planned overnight detours for exits 17 and 18 with the Department of Transportation and State Police.



Lane Lambert may be reached at llambert@ledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @LLambert_Ledger.



