- MassDOT Substantially Completes Sumner Tunnel Project Ahead Of Schedule
- New White Paper Explores Impact Of Road Pricing On Traffic Volume
- Social Media Post Spreads False Information About Hurricane Evacuation Route Tolling
- These are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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MassDOT Substantially Completes Sumner Tunnel Project Ahead Of Schedule
On Monday, Massachusetts DOT declared its $160 million Sumner Tunnel restoration project “substantially complete” and announced that further periodic closures will not be required. The department stated all remaining work can be completed during off-peak hours.
Last week saw the end of full weekend work closures that were initially expected to continue into November. MassDOT highway administrator Jonathan Gulliver commented, “We are thrilled that we have been able to deliver this project ahead of schedule. I want to thank our [lead] contractor, JF White, who worked tirelessly with our team at MassDOT to find ways to accelerate this important work. I also want to thank the travelling public and residents for their patience and support during this important project.”
Started in 2022, the rehabilitation effort aimed to extend the 90-year-old tunnel’s useful life by at least 75 years. Work was so extensive that it required two lengthy summertime closures — they created major metro Boston mobility problems — as well as 59 full-weekend closures. Among other things, contractors removed a suspended ceiling and installed more than 700 precast concrete arches and new fireproof wallboard throughout the facility. The roadway, curbing, and drain inlet were completely restored, and light fixtures, conduits and cables were replaced. (TRN inserted a link in quoted text.)
The Boston Globe covers this story.
Boston Metro Area Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Maintenance Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Safety (Includes COVID-19 Impacts) Massachusetts Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT)New White Paper Explores Impact Of Road Pricing On Traffic Volume
ITSInternational reports on the release of research providing insight into how different road pricing systems affect traffic volume. In a new white paper, The Traffic Impact of Road Pricing, the CSRB Group analyses data from 76 international toll road, bridge, tunnel, and cordon case studies and concludes that imposing charges tends to significantly increase traffic diversion.
According to CSRB senior partner Robert Bain, “We collected additional data for each of our case studies in terms of the toll facilities’ characteristics, toll prices and the quantity and quality of alternative routes and modes available to local drivers. From these candidate explanatory variables, we were able to construct a simple predictive model that can be used to provide ‘first cut’ estimates of the likely traffic response to toll charging under different circumstances.”
ETC Systems Road Use Charging (RUC-MBUF-VMT) Transportation and Infrastructure Research & DevelopmentSocial Media Post Spreads False Information About Hurricane Evacuation Route Tolling
USA Today fact checkers rated “false” a Tuesday, October 8, social media post that showed a map of Hurricane Milton evacuation routes, one of which was supposedly charging tolls. “Why the **** are tolls still in place on an evacuation route?” the post contributor asked. The item was reposted more than a thousand times in a single day and inspired other social media messaging.
As the newspaper noted, Florida’s governor “announced tolls would be lifted in areas in Milton’s path starting on Oct. 7 at 10:30 a.m.,” and, therefore, his suspension order was already in effect on the evacuation route shown in the social media post before it spread misinformation.
ETC Systems Florida Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Florida's Turnpike Enterprise (FTE) Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Safety (Includes COVID-19 Impacts) Public Outreach And CommunicationThese are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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