Friday, May 3, 2013
The MassDOT Industrial Rail Access Program was created through the 2012 Transportation Bond Bill to provide grants to railroads, rail shippers and municipalities.
A project to replace a railroad bridge with a culvert on the Fore River Railroad in Braintree was among the receipients recently of state grants aimed at improving the rail transportation network in Massachusetts and spurring economic growth. The bridge, which originally served as a cattle crossing below the railroad, is part of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority-owned Fore River Railroad that crosses 2.7 miles from Quincy into Braintree. It serves freight customers in the Fore River Shipyard. The bridge is now "no longer needed and is functionally obsolete," according to a press release from the state. The award from the Industrial Rail Access Program amounts to $342,000, plus a matching $232,244 from the MWRA. The MassDOT …
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
State Police are increasing enforcement of breakdown lane use where new fourth travel lane has opened.
- GOVERNMENT
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Wednesday, January 23
The following was submitted by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. MassDOT and the Massachusetts State Police are reminding drivers traveling along I-93 and I-95 (Rte. 128) that use of the breakdown lane on I-93/I-95 (Rte. 128) has been discontinued in the area where the new fourth travel lane has opened. In late November, MassDOT opened a section of the new fourth travel lane along I-93 and I-95 (Rte. 128) between Route 24 in Randolph and a point just south of Rte. 109 near the Westwood-Dedham line. The new lane is part of the ongoing project to eliminate an existing bottleneck between Rte. 24 and Rte. 9 in Wellesley by having four continuous travel lanes in each direction of interstate roadway from the junction of I-93 and …
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Sidewalk and other upgrades are being funded by the federal government, through the MassDOT.
A federally-funded project aimed at making the roads and sidewalks near Ross Elementary safer for students at the walking school is under final review by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and may begin this fall. The $615,000 project is part of a program called Safe Routes to School that combines federal money and state resources with infrastructure improvement ideas spearheaded by local parents, schools and community leaders. Officials from MassDOT expect to put the project out to bid in June, with construction possibly starting in the fall, spokesman Michael Verseckes said in an email. All roads in the area will remain open during construction, though there will be some traffic disruptions, according to a report provided by …
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Representatives from contractor White-Skanska and the DOT answered questions Tuesday night in Weymouth about the bridge construction.
Noise stemming from the initial construction phase of the new Fore River Bridge is already bothering some nearby residents, whose frustrations were exacerbated Tuesday night when state officials and contractors did not produce copies of a noise plan approved by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. The plan was described in part by a representative for White-Skanska, the joint venture selected to design and build the new vertical lift bridge, but the lack of complete transparency bothered several residents attending a public forum at the Whipple Senior Center. "It interrupts sleep, it interrupts the ability to concentrate at work, it interrupts family life," Peter Maggi, a North Weymouth resident, said of the construction noise…
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Braintree Mayor Joseph Sullivan said that the plan is only in its preliminary stages and public comment will be welcome on the MassDOT project.
State transportation officials briefed Mayor Joseph Sullivan about a month ago on the plan pitched by undisclosed developers to add a toll lane to Route 3 to help ease congestion on the highway as it passes through Braintree and other towns. "It is some creative thinking," Sullivan said. "There is a benefit to adding a lane to the highway." But Sullivan also cautioned that the proposal – reported last week by the State House News Service – is only in its initial stages and that before moving ahead the MassDOT must work with developers to refine the plan and seek public input. The toll lane, using EZ-Pass technology, would raise money to help finance the highway expansion project, slated to run nine miles from Braintree to Norwell, …
Saturday, December 8, 2012
A national organization of state transportation officials awarded the Massachusetts DOT with a high safety honor for highways, but does MBTA need to make the T safer?
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is now nationally recognized for higway safety leadership after receiving an award Tuesday. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials has given MassDOT its 2012 Safety Leadership Award for “taking significant action” in reducing highway fatalities an injuries, according to a MassDOT statement. While the organization was recognized for highway safety, its public transportation sector experienced two negative incidents last week. A Green Line trolley collided with another trolley at Boylston Street Station last week sending passengers flying, and police are still searching for a man who struck a trolley operator at Fenway Station on Sunday. Do you feel MassDOT is …
Friday, October 26, 2012
Construction began at the Braintree intersection last night and paving will happen next week.
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Friday, October 26, 2012
State Representative Mark J. Cusack (D-Braintree) is pleased to announce that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation will be milling and paving the intersection of Washington Street at Hancock St. and Plain St in an attempt to complete the work before the winter. “I am happy to continue to work with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to get Braintree’s State roads the attention that they need and I am pleased that this work will be done before the construction season ends,” said Representative Cusack. The road construction will begin tonight, Thursday October 25th at 9:00PM and the paving will commence next week. All work will be completed prior to rush hour and will not impede the morning commute. –The Office of Rep. …
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
The MassDOT uses RMV data to put together a list of the Top 200 High Crash Intersections.
Two intersections in Braintree are among the most accident-prone locations in Massachusetts, according to a report recently released by the Department of Transportation. Lowell dominates the list of the Top 200 High Crash Intersection Locations, taking two of the first three spots and five in the top 30. The second-highest crash location was Randolph Avenue and Chickatawbut Road in Milton. In Braintree, the intersection at Granite and Common streets was number 121 with 54 total crashes and 15 with injuries, according to data collected by the DOT in 2010 with help from the Registry of Motor Vehicles. Granite and Franklin streets earned number 169 on the list, with 37 crashes, 16 featuring injuries. None of the accidents at the locations in …
Friday, September 28, 2012
Construction work will cause delays on I-93 South near Exit 3 this weekend.
- GOVERNMENT
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Friday, September 28, 2012
Beginning at 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 29 and continuing through noon on Sunday, September 30, there will be multiple lane closures on the section of I-93 South in the vicinity of the Ponkapoag Trail bridge (Exit 3) in Milton to allow work crews to complete roadway reconstruction and paving operations. The ramp from Route 24 North to I-93 South will be closed during portions of this work with affected traffic being detoured to I-93 North to reverse direction at the Route 28 (Exit 5) interchange. Appropriate signs, channelizing devices and traffic control measures will be used to guide drivers through the work zone. MassDOT encourages drivers to seek alternate routes, to avoid delays. Drivers that must travel through the affected …
Thursday, April 5, 2012
MBTA Board members on Wednesday approved a plan that would raise most subway fares by 30 cents, bus fares by 25 cents, and commuter rail fares by at least $1.25.
The MBTA Board voted 4-1 on Wednesday to approve a package of fare hikes and service cuts to close a $160 million deficit. The plan, which takes effect July 1, boosts fares 23 percent and cuts back some services, including the elimination of weekend trains on the Greenbush Line that runs through Braintree. The plan that was approved was the third budget proposal after the MBTA floated two previous ideas that would have made more drastic cuts. Those plans were presented in dozens of public hearings across the state where they faced strong opposition from the public. Meanwhile, several groups continued to protest this latest budget plan, including an overnight vigil that was held at the Statehouse Tuesday into Wednesday morning. Mayor Joseph…
Matt
3:47 pm on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
$615,000 to make sidewalks safe for the kids that walk to the Ross School. Yea that's money well spent. 95% of the kids that go to this school don't walk they get picked up and dropped off by there parents. I wonder how the parents of the kids that will be sitting soon in there new modular class rooms will feel about this. I'm guessing they wont be to happy about this. But that's just a guess more ›