HADLEY — Most of Rocky Hill Road, an increasingly popular route for commuters between the University of Massachusetts campus and Interstate 91, as well as a growing number of commercial vehicles, will be closed to all but a limited number of vehicles on Thursday and Friday.

With milling of the asphalt surface taking place on a stretch between Breckenridge and Huntington roads, Hadley Police announced over the weekend that the road will be shut down both days from East Street east to Huntington Road. When paving takes place, likely the following week, similar closures will be in place.

While the work is occurring on a limited area of the road, the closure of a longer portion of the road will ease traffic by diverting vehicles onto or encouraging people to stay on Route 9. There, a state highway widening project is still happening and has already prompted more drivers to seek out Rocky Hill Road as a bypass.

The only drivers who will be able to use portions of the closed road will be residents and visitors to homes on Rocky Hill and those on its dead-end streets and cul-de-sacs, including Birch Meadow Drive, Kozera Avenue, Wampanoag Drive, Algonquin Drive, Popes Way, Sunrise Drive and Szafir Lane. School buses and delivery drivers will also be allowed to bypass the areas that are closed.

People living or visiting roads that can be accessed from other streets should avoid Rocky Hill, police advised. Those needing to get to and from Breckenridge Road and Highland Circle should use Huntington Road, while those going to Farm Lane should use Spruce Hill Road, to get out to and from Route 9, and residents of Laurana Lane, High Meadow Road and Kentfield Drive should get to and from those homes via North Maple Street.

Huntington Road, which parallels much of Rocky Hill Road to the north, is expected to see an increase in traffic, meaning that additional police patrols will be positioned there due to the greater volume and potential for speeding.

Hadley officials over the years have attempted to discourage commuters from using Rocky Hill, including lowering the speed limit to 30 mph, installing speed humps on North Lane along the Connecticut River dike and making illegal left turns from Route 9 onto Cross Path Road, near the Coolidge Bridge.

North Lane, West Street, Cemetery Road and Cross Path Road are all part of the popular commuting route that brings people to and from Rocky Hill Road.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.