Traffic patterns on I-93, 106 changed for NASCAR race on Sunday

LOUDON — With tens of thousands of fans expected to arrive for the NASCAR race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this Sunday, the state’s Department of Transportation plans to alter regular traffic patterns on Interstate 93 and Route 106.

DOT expects more than 42,000 spectators, arriving in 15,000 vehicles, to attend the NASCAR Cup Series Race, which will begin at NHMS at 2:30 p.m. on June 23. The worst of the traffic jams are expected in the late afternoon and early evening.

Along the I-93 corridor, DOT will change traffic patterns by closing the I-393 eastbound off ramp to I-93 from 3:15 to 9 p.m. During the same time frame, the I-93 Exit 14 eastbound off ramp, to Loudon Road, and the I-93 Exit 15E southbound off ramp to I-393 eastbound, will also be closed. The I-93 northbound off ramp to I-393 west, at the I-393 and I-93 interchange, will also be closed.

On Sunday morning, Route 106 will feature multiple northbound lanes to accommodate the many race fans. There will be two northbound lanes from just north of I-393, and a third will be added from the Beck Road intersection. After the race begins, and until about 8:30 p.m., Route 106 will be reconfigured in the opposite manner. Two southbound travel lanes will be created from the NHMS’s north gate to its south gate, and two more lanes will be added from the south gate until the intersection with Beck Road, where the four lanes will merge into three lanes, then down to two southbound lanes just north of the Route 129 intersection. The two southbound lanes will continue along Route 106 until it reaches I-393 in Concord.