Mass Pike - Why hasn't it been improved after 55+ years? (Boston: new home, income)

[Northeaster]

The reason the roads are in such bad shape is that they took down all the tolls back in the 70's & 80's, Oh wait, they never took them down? they said they would.

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Hi everyone. Thanks for all the responses. Let me clarify my concerns. I am not talking about the condition of the road pavement or its bridges. I know those are well maintained. I am talking about the number of lanes and the geometric design of the ramps. The Mass Pike has had basically the same number of lanes since it was built. Also the ramps have god awful geometry, meaning they have tight curves, short weave distances, poor sight lines and ramps that just merge together into one lane with no warning. The design is definitely not up to standards that have been around for the past 30 years or more. My point is that the Mass Pike generates millions of dollars each year but none of that money appears to go into making it a better highway.

Someone mentioned I-95 in Connecticut. There is a difference. In Connecticut we have no tolls. We did away with them over 30 years ago. The state has made improvements to I-95 by adding lanes here and there. They are completing a widening of I-95 in New Haven and added lanes in East Haven and Branford. They also widened it in New London, Bridgeport and Norwalk. I will be the first to admit it is not enough but CTDOT has proposed to add a lane from New Haven to New York and from Branford to RI to address capacity issues. Is there any similar plan for the Mass Pike? Jay

You mention I-95. We just completed the I-95 add-a-lane project that brings the highway from 3 to 4 lanes in each direction from Rt-24 Randolph to Rt-9 Wellesley (around 15 miles). As far as the Mass Pike is concerned, last year my wife told me she was helping design a new open road tolling system. She has since moved onto a different project so I don't know the details, but from what I remember it was supposed to have expedited design and construction phases (at least for MA standards). That should alleviate a lot of the rush hour traffic that's caused by the tollbooths. Another ongoing project on the Pike is reconfiguration of the Allston tollboth. We purchased the CSX rail yard that abuts the tollbooth and plan to straighten out the highway a little bit. The way it's designed right now, your eyes hit the sun on a bend during the morning commute into Boston and everyone hits their brakes. In conjunction with the open road tolling, traffic into Boston from the West will be greatly alleviated once this is complete in a few years. The Mass Pike is a limited access highway and seems like the bottlenecks at the tollbooths and exits are the cause of most of the traffic west of Rt-128. Inside 128 is a different story, but there really isn't any more room to add another lane unless you want to start destroying neighborhoods.

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by Northeaster

The reason the roads are in such bad shape is that they took down all the tolls back in the 70's & 80's, Oh wait, they never took them down? they said they would.

I was waiting for someone to post that. You're right.

[LeavingMA]

Originally Posted by Northeaster

The reason the roads are in such bad shape is that they took down all the tolls back in the 70's & 80's, Oh wait, they never took them down? they said they would.

Good thing they put all that toll money right back into the infrastructure also.

[mdovell]

128 I think we can all agree is pure hell. Just look at wcvb's traffic or googles traffic for friday starting at 3pm.

Having said that though I don't find the pike to be in bad shape but the bottlenecks are a bit scary. North or south and then you have to get over but end up blocking others so it backs up.

The only other issue I see is people slowing down to see crashes or at least what they thing is a crash. I'll never forget having it slow down on 128 only to see some lady holding up a 2 year old son urinating on the side of the road! Seriously this isn't something to watch let alone slow down for. Meanwhile THAT might create an accident and then you really get a backup.

As bad as it is I think it can get worse. This winter will be a test for the T. If the T were to somehow shut down how much more traffic would drive into Boston? How many Boston based companies would simply uproot and leave? Can you imagine if every student had to drive in? Heck even if it was carpooled at 4 to a car it would still be quite an amount.

[traffic_lover]

Originally Posted by bUU

Parochial attitudes don't help anything and they surely don't deserve an unrebutted soapbox.

1.) I went to public, not catholic, high school thank you very much.

2.) Am I the one on the soapbox? LOL

3.) YOU, sir, get a cookie for using some very big-boy words. I had to use my pocket dictionary. BRAVO!

[bUU]

It's a shame you didn't look up what the word "parochial" could mean in that sentence.

[traffic_lover]

Originally Posted by bUU

It's a shame you didn't look up what the word "parochial" could mean in that sentence.

Haha...have a good wknd!

[mp775]

Originally Posted by JayCT

I recently have been traveling more through Massachusetts and on the Mass Pike (I-90). As best as I can tell the highway has not really been expanded or improved in the 56 years it existed.

56 ago, the Pike was four lanes for its entire length and it ended at 128.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by Parsec

You mention I-95. We just completed the I-95 add-a-lane project that brings the highway from 3 to 4 lanes in each direction from Rt-24 Randolph to Rt-9 Wellesley (around 15 miles).

The last 3 1/4 miles on the northern end of that widening project to Route 9 isn't done yet. MassHighway says they're 21% complete on that last contract. Contract # 79875. I use that road quite a bit and I'll be glad when it's completed. Of course, Route 128 north of there is the most congested part of the road.

Until they do something about the 128/3 interchange in Burlington, the 128/93 interchange in Woburn, and put traffic metering lights on the on-ramps like you see in more enlightened places, it's still going to be a mess.