A Massachusetts Department of Transportation spokesperson announced Friday afternoon that the MassPike is expected to fully open by 8 p.m. after emergency road repairs at Interstate 90 westbound in Hopkinton, near the I-495 interchange, closed all westbound lanes earlier in the morning.

In an email to the Independent at 4:39 p.m. MassDOT spokesperson John Goggin announced that one lane on I-90 westbound at the I-495 interchange had been reopened. The two right lanes remained closed for emergency repair operations.

At a 1 p.m. onsite press conference, MassDOT highway administrator Jonathan Gulliver explained that a construction trench settlement formed in the low-speed lane due to nearby construction.

“As part of that work, the contractor has been installing piles adjacent to the embankment up against the portion of the turnpike that the settlement happened in,” he said. “This activity appears to have caused the embankment to become destabilized and caused some of the settlement that we observed this morning,”

Cracks opened up in the roadway, likely because of loose and wet soil, impacting the morning commute. Gulliver noted that this area is part of the Cedar Swamp.

The contractor was in the process of developing a new ramp. Geotechnical staff will be brought in to assess the area after the road is open to see if this work can continue.

The sinkhole was “about 400 feet at the length of the low-speed lane,” according to Gulliver.

As part of a two-pronged, daylong response, Gulliver said teams were bringing in “structural fill” in dump trucks to compact and stabilize the embankment. Engineers were onsite to ensure that the embankment is shored up properly.

“And then they are filling in some of the voids that formed up on the roadway surface,” he added.

While Gulliver expected most of the work to be completed “by early evening,” he estimated that the MassPike will be fully open “until somewhere around 8 p.m.” He said the crew was working to get at least one lane open by midafternoon.

Eastbound traffic was being detoured onto Route 9 at Exit 111 in Framingham up to I-495 southbound. Signals have been reconfigured at that point to prioritize westbound traffic movement. He called it “a pretty extensive detour for a major highway for us,” but added that “it has been manageable for most of the day.”

Gulliver urged commuters to avoid the I-90/I495 interchange area.

While settlement can happen during road construction, Gulliver said “it’s not very common that we have it to this extent.”

Goggin encouraged travelers to monitor the situation by the following means:

• Download the Mass511 mobile app or visit www.mass511.com to view live cameras, travel times, real-time traffic conditions, and project information before setting out on the road. Users can subscribe to receive text and email alerts for traffic conditions.

• Dial 511 and select a route to hear real-time conditions.

• Follow @MassDOT on X, (formerly known as Twitter), to receive regular updates on road and traffic conditions.

The I-90/I-495 interchange is undergoing a major transformation, and the two bridges on Fruit Street in Hopkinton are being redone.