NEW BEDFORD MassDOT's construction look-ahead for Oct. 18 to Nov. 1 lists 17 closures and lane closures around the I-195/Route 18 interchange in New Bedford. The state puts the short-term closures in place as needed. Route 18 northbound and southbound are each listed for overnight closure, 7:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. The posted detours send northbound drivers along MacArthur Drive, Herman Melville Boulevard and Coggeshall Street, and southbound drivers along Coggeshall Street, Purchase Street, Hillman Street and MacArthur Drive.
Two ramps stay shut: I-195 westbound Exit 26 to Route 18 southbound (Ramp C) and the I-195 westbound on-ramp from Route 18 (Ramp D). They closed Sept. 8, 2025, and stay closed until summer 2027, the state says. Detours are in place for trucks and large vehicles on I-195, and personal vehicles can keep using local roads.
The posted detour for Ramp C runs west on I-195 to Exit 24A, then Exit 2A to get back on I-195 East, then Exit 26. For Ramp D, drivers take I-195 East to Exit 31B at North Street and follow signs back onto I-195 West.
Daytime closures in the period include Cedar Grove Street between County and Purchase streets (9 a.m. to 2 p.m.), Purchase Street between Cedar Grove and Penniman streets (9 a.m. to 2 p.m. as needed, one direction at a time), and parts of Belleville Avenue, Kenyon Street and North Front Street (7 a.m. to 5 p.m.; North Front Street as needed). State Street between Cedar Grove and Penniman streets is listed as closed to drivers and walkers at all hours.
MassDOT will hold a live virtual public information meeting on the project Thursday, Nov. 5, at 6 p.m. on Zoom. The meeting is listed under Upcoming Events on the project's mass.gov page. The project hotline is 508-441-4532, and the project email is i195route18newbedford@dot.state.ma.us.
Label: Reported by us, from MassDOT's project page.
How we verified this
Every fact comes from three MassDOT pages for the project, listed below. We read them on Oct. 18 and again before publishing; nothing had changed. The detours page gives two different routes for the State Street closure, so this story prints the closure but no detour for it. We checked each claim against the pages and recomputed the weekday by script. A human editor approved the story. Not heard: no one was contacted.
Corrections
No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.
Sources
- Traffic and construction updates, Route I-195 to Route 18 interchange rehabilitation in New BedfordMassDOT. The Oct. 18 to Nov. 1 look-ahead: the 17 closures and lane closures, their hours, the Ramp C and D closures, the project hotline and email. Read Oct. 18, 2026, and again before publishing; unchanged.
- Traffic detours, Route I-195 to Route 18 interchange rehabilitation in New BedfordMassDOT. The Route 18 and Ramp C and D detour routes. Read Oct. 18, 2026, and again before publishing; unchanged.
- Route I-195 to Route 18 interchange rehabilitation in New Bedford (Upcoming Events)MassDOT project page. The Nov. 5 live virtual public information meeting. Read Oct. 18, 2026, and again before publishing; unchanged.