Like he** I'm going to pay these prices! (Boston, Cambridge: rail, commuter)

[fabfan84]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

It really comes down to the totally failed highway infrastructure south of Boston. A Route 3 or Route 24 commute that includes the Southeast Expressway is awful. If you can't take a train, your commute quality of life is going to be in the toilet.



I-95 from the Maine line to 128 is a fantastic road.



When I lived in Portsmouth, NH, a Logan Airport drive on 95/1/1A was pretty deterministic. You could allow 30 minutes of slack time and reliably make a morning flight. You could divert to 128/93 and cut through Chelsea if there was a huge problem on Route 1. From the South Shore, the zipper lane was plugging solid before 6:30am. If you're not at the Braintree split before 6am, there's no telling how long the drive might be.

Why is the Southeast Expressway so bad traffic-wise?

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by Boston Shudra

Always confused me why I-95 from Peabody to Salisbury is one of the widest highways in the metro area despite going through some of the area’s most rural towns.

I believe it was sized to accommodate traffic from the then newly built 495, as well as the NH and ME interstates.

These studies were done in the ‘60s so they likely did not design for the modern zoning regs which have suppressed density along 495/95 north.

[massnative71]

Every other highway 495 inward needs at least 4 lanes, yet ironically the one road where 3 would be sufficient has 4 lanes only to dump into the 3 lane narrow curvy $hitshow that is 128.

[AtkinsonDan]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Every other highway in eastern MA needs at least 4 lanes, yet ironically the one road where 3 would be sufficient has 4 lanes only to dump into the 3 lane narrow curvy $hitshow that is 128.

I believe they have widened 128 between Dedham and Wellesley recently but you are right, the section from Reading to Peabody desperately needs to be upgraded to four lanes each way.

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by AtkinsonDan

I believe they have widened 128 between Dedham and Wellesley recently but you are right, the section from Reading to Peabody desperately needs to be upgraded to four lanes each way.

Yeah it's 4 lanes all the way from Reading to Canton but the short piece from Reading to Peabody is not. It must be hard to bring to 4 lanes.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by AtkinsonDan

I believe they have widened 128 between Dedham and Wellesley recently but you are right, the section from Reading to Peabody desperately needs to be upgraded to four lanes each way.

Not to mention the demolition/redesign of that cluster of a 128/95 interchange. The lack of urgency on that matter is mind boggling.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by Lampert

Yeah it's 4 lanes all the way from Reading to Canton but the short piece from Reading to Peabody is not. It must be hard to bring to 4 lanes.

I can't imagine harder than that stretch through Wellesley and Needham.

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by massnative71

I can't imagine harder than that stretch through Wellesley and Needham.

Me neither, I just hope there is a good reason

[AtkinsonDan]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Not to mention the demolition/redesign of that cluster of a 128/95 interchange. The lack of urgency on that matter is mind boggling.

I wasn't going to mention that colossal disaster but fixing that plus the extra lane over to Peabody would do wonders for the whole area. Pre-pandemic traffic that should have stayed on 128 and 93 would clog up every back road from Bedford to Reading.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by fabfan84

Why is the Southeast Expressway so bad traffic-wise?

A 1954 road with no room to widen it. Congested 12 hours per day. I-95 in Fairfield County might be worse but it’s certainly the worst congestion in Massachusetts if not New England.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pat...emplate=ampart