Traffic piles up along southbound Route 120 towards Hanover Street due to the closure of the southbound Exit 18 ramp on Interstate 89 in Lebanon, N.H., on June 22, 2016. A detour has been created to help ameliorate the backups caused by the sewer infrastructure project occurring on the southbound Exit 18 ramp. (Valley News - Mac Snyder) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
Traffic piles up along southbound Route 120 towards Hanover Street due to the closure of the southbound Exit 18 ramp on Interstate 89 in Lebanon, N.H., on June 22, 2016. A detour has been created to help ameliorate the backups caused by the sewer infrastructure project occurring on the southbound Exit 18 ramp. (Valley News - Mac Snyder) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Credit: Valley News — Mac Snyder

Lebanon — The closing of the southbound on-ramp of Interstate 89’s Exit 18 caused some confusion among motorists and backed up traffic along Route 120 during Wednesday’s rush hour, but proved to be more of a headache than a nightmare as a weeklong construction project kicked off.

“I’ve never seen that kind of a backup,” said Stephen Girdwood, who drives Route 120 from his law office in Hanover daily. “It’s backed up to the other side of the (Exit 18) light.”

As Girdwood drove south and saw cars lined up to turn at the Hanover Street intersection, he decided to bypass the traffic by pulling into the right lane and driving straight into the Shell station.

The on-ramp will be closed until Tuesday, as crews excavate and install casing as part of the Route 120 sewer improvement project.

With the on-ramp closed, drivers have two detours to choose from. One requires traffic to drive north on the highway before getting off at Exit 19 and turning around to go southbound. The second detour, which is about 3 miles, takes traffic on Route 120 to the intersection with Hanover Street. Cars then turn left and continue downtown, then onto Bank Street and Exit 17.

City Engineer Christina Hall said crews were at work early Wednesday morning, using backhoes to remove pavement, gravel and sand to expose existing sewer lines. Later this week, they’ll install a 40-foot segment of casing, fill in around it and begin the process of making room for a 60-foot segment.

It’s likely construction won’t completely repair the pavement within the project’s week time limit, so crews will likely have to come back later in the summer and partially close the ramp, she said.

City officials have worried the closing would slow traffic, particularly drivers leaving Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center during the afternoon commute.

By 4:30 p.m., traffic was becoming heavy but still moving onto Interstate 89 northbound, where southbound cars were directed to drive to Exit 19 and turn around. Motorists using the detour to Exit 17 through downtown Lebanon encountered much longer waits, however.

Victoria Smith pumped gas at the Shell gas station where Hanover Street intersects Route 120. She watched as confused drivers turned through the parking lot and made U-turns to try and head back to Exit 18.

“They should have had alternative plans (posted) much sooner,” said Smith, who lives near Colburn Park.

Although the city circulated detour information last week, electronic signs on the road pointed cars to Exit 19, rather than the detour through downtown and Bank Street.

“For the next week, I won’t come this way anymore,” Smith said. “I’ll go the back way.”

Girdwood said he hopes traffic will lighten up as the week goes on and people become more aware of alternative routes.

“I think most of these people are getting up to the exit and they’re forgetting it’s closed until they get there,” he said.

Manuela Ruiz works at Hypertherm and said the closing does not affect her commute, but the traffic detour has some of her co-workers worried.

“They seem a little frustrated about it,” she said. “I think for the greater good, sometimes you’ve got to deal with it.”

Looking at the traffic backup, Ruiz said she was fortunate to turn to the right at the Hanover Street intersection, avoiding the wait.

Expecting traffic backups, DHMC began alerting patients and staff of the detours last week.

Hospital spokesman Mike Barwell said signs alerting people to the detours were placed at all DHMC facilities. Automated messages also warned patients making appointment calls, and road signs on the campus announced traffic changes.

“We know that 5 p.m. is a big traffic push,” said Barwell, comparing the construction with problems caused by a winter snow storm.

While the afternoon commute drew some complaints, there were few traffic problems in the morning, said Lebanon Police Capt. Timothy Cohen. He asked that people be patient during the construction week, and said the department will be reassessing where to best position officers before today’s rush hour.

Drivers also might have noticed traffic backed up for a little more than a mile on I-89 northbound Wednesday morning, as crews closed a single lane south of Exit 20.

New Hampshire DOT spokesman Bill Boynton said a 4-foot-by-20 foot section of pavement was removed to study the causes of wheel rutting, which can lead to poor drainage on the highway. He said crews will do the same on the southbound side today.

Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.

Correction

The detour through downtown Lebanon is about 3 miles in length. An earlier version of this story was unclear on that point.